


A Second Fiction

by a_fictioneer



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, CIA, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gen, Korrasami Anniversary, Korrasami is Canon, Mako is a cop (sorta)... Big surprise, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-05-12 18:49:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5676736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_fictioneer/pseuds/a_fictioneer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Agent Korra, I’ll ask you one last time…”</p>
<p>She was seated in one, of the only two, chairs in the small 4 by 4 room. It was cold. Hairs stood on edge of her exposed neck. Forearms rested rather uncomfortably on the metallic table in front of her. This was all deliberate. She knew that. They always did this when interrogations took place. Basic CIA interrogation tactics. </p>
<p>She looked past the Chief’s eyes, to glance at the reflective glass behind her. To glance at her, before Beifong’s demeaning hazel eyes pierced down on her once again, bringing her back to a harsh reality. Determination shone in Korra’s eyes, and a cool exterior took over her.</p>
<p>She inhaled.</p>
<p>“No,” said Korra coldly, staring Lin straight in the eyes now, “No I do not have feelings for Asami Sato.”</p>
<p>Exhaled.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>An AU fiction where Korra works for the CIA and Asami becomes her asset. Korra and Asami will be in the biggest missions of their lives yet: fighting their increasingly growing attraction for someone they can never have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

Asami woke to early sunlight streaming through the gaps in her blinds, lighting up the bedroom in her apartment. She could hear the birds chirping outside, picturing them sitting idly on the railings of her balcony, enjoying the cool air and the calm before the streets of Republic City roared to life. She craned her head to read her alarm clock, **_6.28am._** Rather than doze off to blissful sleep again, she decided to get up, tossing her duvet aside and standing on her tip toes to stretch and shake the rest of sleep from her body. 

_So much for taking it easy,_ she thought as she made her way into the bathroom letting the shower run as the mirrors slowly fogged up. Despite the deep slumber she fell into last night, her hair didn’t have one strand out of line. Asami smiled to herself before climbing into the shower.

 

* * *

 

 

“For the record,” Korra stated as she trudged her way out of the dark, tinted van toward the entrance to her apartment building, tossing the last slug off her shoulder. It was still early morning and she was thankful that nobody would be awake right now to question the current state she was in; head to toe, completely covered in sludge, wreaking like a sewer rat, “next time we go on a mission, pick a route that doesn’t involve crawling through the sewers all night, okay Mako?” 

He chuckled from the drivers seat, “you afraid to get your hands dirty Korra?” 

“No,” she said hastily, “I would just prefer not smelling like shit all the time thanks to you. This,” she said gesturing to her once black jumpsuit given to her by the department, “is all going to get burnt. You at least owe me a large cup of coffee for that Mako.” 

He snickered as he said, “Okay, okay, sorry. I’ll let you get cleaned up, see you in a couple of hours,” and began peeling out onto the quiet morning road. 

Korra took another whiff of herself, “poof, I think I’m going to need a couple hours for solely cleaning myself” she said aloud as she strolled inside the lobby, leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind and into the elevator of her apartment building, putting her key into the lock and punching in the 8th floor number. She glanced at the time on her phone whilst she rode the lift, **6.28am.** _Well so much for hours,_ she thought, exiting the elevator into her apartment.

 

When you step off the elevator into her apartment, a small stretch of space marking the middle of the apartment also helps to separate the living quarters from her sleeping ones. On the left half of her apartment, you’re immediately met with an open plan kitchen and an island adorned with several bar stools facing in towards the kitchen. Just behind those barstools is the lounge; a large flat screen TV hung on the wall, beneath it a coffee table housing her DVD player, as well as her assortment of video games. An L shaped couch faced it, along with a separate lounger off to the side of it. On the right half of her apartment, was slightly raised onto a platform. Two large supporting poles connected to the floor and roof, came off as an entrance way into Korra’s bedroom. By the furthest pole, Korra had placed bookshelves to create more privacy. Stepping up, into the secluded space was the bed, bedside tables adorning either side, her makeshift wardrobe on the wall (Korra had grown a little lazy when redecorating and hadn’t bothered to build walls around her wardrobe so it sat in the open, her clothes visible) and a dresser next to it. Around the corner was her bathroom. 

Korra’s favourite thing about her apartment however, was what you witnessed directly across the elevator. Full length glass windows and doors stretched along the entirety of the north apartment wall giving you a complete view of the city and harbour. Beyond the balcony doors lay Korra’s favourite place where she’d go to unwind after a long day at work. A small set up consisting of outdoor dining area, a cosy 2 seater couch, accompanied by a telescope angled towards the bay and open sea. She loved how the wind pulled the hair off her face and how being up that high, waded out the various, sometimes questionable smells downtown Republic City had to offer, and all she could smell was the fresh sea breeze, despite the docks being a fair distance away from her apartment.

Her apartment building was the kind where each resident received their own individual floor. Meaning that she didn’t have neighbours and by extension, wouldn’t have to worry about fumbling for an excuse about the extremely questionable states she consistently comes back in at suspicious hours after very late night missions, should she ever bump into said neighbour in a corridor. No, she instead thanked the spirits that the department had set her up with an amazing high rise apartment that overlooked the city, which also offered complete privacy (which is what every agent needs) and didn’t have a 24/7 lobby assistant. She’d been told that several civilians had eyed up this very apartment and one even managed to get so far as to lay a bond and pay one months rent up front, but one of the many perks of working for the CIA, are the numerous strings they can pull in your favour. So, here Korra was, in a fabulously large-for-a-studio apartment, with a stunning view she never really got the chance to admire, but still never tired from it - and all thanks to a rumour the department started about a supposed haunting - if that didn’t manage to scare away those potential residents, she didn’t know what would. Yanking the curtains open to let the first light stream into her apartment, her giant white husky, Naga, snapped her head up in surprise and excitement before yelping as she backed away from Korra.

“Hey! I’m not that smelly!” she said throwing her arms in protest to the dogs whimpering. “Okay,” her arms dropped to her sides along with her head in defeat, “I am a little smelly…"  Korra slumped towards the bathroom whilst Naga went back to sleep.

Whilst the shower heated up, Korra managed to yank all of her clothes off and into a large garbage bag on the floor of her bathroom. She took one last look (and whiff) of her gear. “Yep. You’re definitely going to get burnt” she decided, staring down at the heap of sewer stained clothing as she shook the last sock off in the bathroom whilst the shower heated up.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami let the few water droplets run off her, not bothering to dry them as she wrapped her towel around herself and another around her hair, letting it sit atop her head. She exited the bathroom and tossed her clothes for the day onto her unmade bed, then strolled down the hallway, past her study, the gym room, and the spare bathroom through the archway that opened up to her living room. She made her way to the open plan kitchen at the back of the room, and flipped on the jug. Standing with her hands outstretched onto the marble counter whilst she waited for it to boil, she looked out to the window on the opposite side of the room, and the view it revealed. The sun had definitely made its presence known and lit Asami’s lavishly expensive apartment up. Sun streamed through the glass shedding light on the little fluff particles floating in the air of her living room. Asami made her lemon and ginger tea and settled down onto the couch, enjoying a few more minutes of peace and quiet that her early start had given her, before getting ready for the day. 

 

* * *

 

 

Korra ran a hand through her short, wet hair, hoping to shake out as many water droplets as she could. She didn’t have time to dry her hair, as she didn’t want to be late today of all days. Chief Beifong had warned Mako and Korra yesterday about being “exceptionally punctual” today, which always meant showing up at least 30 minutes before they were meant to be due in at work, because of an important mission that’d suddenly come up. They hadn’t been told much at the time, just that it would require infiltration and the withdrawing of information from the target. 

“This person better be worth me missing out on sleep” Korra muttered to herself as she straightened her uniform ensuring there wasn’t a single crease in it. Grabbing her keys for her motorbike, her phone and over the shoulder bag for the day she ran out, giving Naga one last sympathetic belly rub and a pat on the head, she leapt into the elevator avoiding her mud marks on the floor of it and made her way to work.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami always loved the drive to work. She had recently taken over her fathers position as CEO of Future Industries, and was now responsible not just for the designing of Satomobiles, Satocycles and Satoplanes as well as assisting in Republic City's big infrastructure plan, she also managed the chain of technological stores known as F.I Tech, that sold the smaller products Future Industries produced like phones, stereos, cameras, recorders and other devices. Safe to say, the company was in full swing. Meaning that Asami was also in full swing. It had definitely put her life into the fast lane - attending launch party after launch party, "grand opening" after "grand opening", and countless lunch meets with prospective business partners and investors. Truth be told though, she liked keeping busy, and somehow, despite how much she juggled on her plate, Asami always managed to fit everything in with time to spare. Though she felt she couldn't take all the credit - her father had gifted her with plenty of advisors to assist in any way possible should Asami need help. Asami had always loved a challenge thus, rarely using the advisors waiting on her every command, unless she felt like taking a day off (most of the time it was just a ruse to stay locked in her apartment to continue working on the blueprints she'd spent the entire night constructing). She had promised herself this year however, that she'd take it easy. She was only 25 and could've sworn her hair had already begun to thin. 

She deeply inhaled, mentally and physically preparing for the day ahead, exhaled.

The drive to work always provided her last few minutes of peace and calm before the storm. She cast her eyes out the window as she cruised down the street to see  that shopkeepers had already opened up, adorning footpaths with various food stalls, fruit stalls, drink stands and signs pointing to where one could find the best dumplings in Republic City. Children were already making their way to school, parents gushing behind them checking to see if they'd remembered everything before racing off to work. Hustlers had already put on street shows attracting small crowds, delivery trucks were making their rounds, busses were at full capacity. 

She watching it all go down. Quietly appreciating the life in Republic City from the inside of her customised Satomobile, listening to the hum and roar of the engine.

She loved driving full stop. That much was always certain. She'd spent much of her childhood admiring the Satomobiles being tested in the track in her backyard, and eventually learning to drive and master with vehicle with far more control and precision than the other drivers possessed. Her father always told her, if she ever wanted to opt out of running the company, she could always switch to become a professional racer - she definitely had the skills - and the sponsorship was there.

However she knew that running the company was in her future. She'd been lined up and groomed for succession by her father. Despite his worries that it might not be something she wanted, that he may be forcing her into it, Asami gladly took it upon herself to follow in his footsteps. Simply because she loved creating, designing, constructing and helping to better the world, just like her father had strived to. 

This morning, she'd warned her advisors that she was going to be working in one of the smaller chain stores, in the Republic City suburbs out east, overseeing the day-to-day run ins and how business was going for them, and jotting down notes on how she could improve aspects of the company for customers and staff. She'd made it her mission to get around to each of the chain stores, and this was her last. 

Pulling into the reserved carpark out front, Asami stepped out dressed in her usual business attire; red shirt, tucked into a black pencil skirt, stockings accompanied with heels, a grey petticoat wrapped around her shoulders, and her long raven black hair let loose today, sitting slightly to the left. Her usual purple eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner and dark red lipstick also adorned her pale and perfectly porcelain face. She was well aware of the three men unashamedly oogling her with chins dropped to the floor as she stepped into the store and ignored them, ready to start the order of business for today.

She was merely 2 feet into the door, when the manager, a small, timid looking man wearing a grey business suit in his mid 40's, the few hairs on his head slicked to the side, had crossed her space, coffee in hand, offering it to her. 

"Ah, Miss Sato. So glad you could join us, it's truly an honour to grace us with your presence."

 

* * *

 

"For you," Mako said as he held the coffee cup out to Korra, "Venti Cappuccino just as you requested." 

"Thank you Mako, you are too kind" Korra said as she gladly took the cup. The still hot beverage a welcome taste upon her lips. 

"Well, y'no seeing as I made you trudge through sewage the entire night and miss out on sleep, it's the least I can do." He responded. Hands clung to his coffee cup, eagerly sipping away, hoping to erase the black marks beneath his eyes before briefing. 

Korra noticed his hair, despite it's spiky wonder, was still damp too, and chuckled knowing they both felt the same way about their mission this morning.  _This person better bloody be worth it._ They'd planned to trudge through shit an entire night, under the impression they'd have the next day off to at least recover, recuperate and well, not smell like shit anymore, until Chief Beifong had caught them just before they left requesting they be "exceptionally punctual" the next day. 

So here they both were, looking half decent than they were supposed to, hair still slightly damp, bags under their eyes, coffees in hand, cursing under their breaths and even more in their heads at the person (who was secretly their mission) responsible for what felt like, hard labour.

"Good to see you both still alive," Lin said as she stomped her way into the briefing room. 

"Barely," Mako mumbled at her entrance. Lin just cast a stern look his way, before he spoke up a little more to apologise .

"Now, I called you in this morning because of your mission. Infiltrating and acquiring information from the target. Now w e've recently received reports that have led us to believe radicals in the area are attempting to capture the target, to use their vast knowledge and unparalleled technological skills to their advantage to hack into banks across the country, government agencies, military bases - you name it. Clearly it's a high risk case. That's why we've assigned you two." She asserted whilst her assistant set up the projection and begun the slideshow showing these suspected criminals, where they believe their base of operations is, and which companies, business and agencies are most likely to be targeted, should the criminals be successful in their attempts. 

"Your mission is to protect the target, genius engineer and the CEO of Future Industries, Asami Sato." The board then light up with a picture of a beautiful girl with raven black hair, piercing emerald green eyes, clear pale skin. Her body, slim yet toned, to perfection. She was stunning to say the least, and instantly made the air in Korra's body leave her completely. 

"Totally worth it." She heard Mako mumble from beside her, and she shot him a glance only to meet his smug little grin glaring down at her. 

True. She was worth it. Hell Korra would go another day without sleep, trudging through shit storms to be in this girls presence, but Korra knew all too well that girls who looked like THAT were usually accompanied with terrible personalities. One of the outcomes from living such high-end lifestyles and being able to get everything you ever wanted with a snap of their fingers. _Prissy, elegant, rich girl_ , Korra thought, whilst also trying extremely hard not to judge. _She's just a mission,_ she repeatedly told herself, she's just a mission. 

"So what do you want us to do Chief?" Korra asked trying to keep her attention on the mission. 

"I want you two, to approach her, befriend her, date her - whatever. Find a way to get close to this girl to find out what she knows that way we can tell if she's at risk or not. Something tells me she is. She's the prodigal daughter of an already genius inventor. There will be people after her trying to use her knowledge and skills for their own personal gain. Your mission is to not let this happen. Stay close to her, protect her. She is your target, do you understand?"

"Yes Chief" they both responded in complete unison. 

 

 

 


	2. Infiltration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we have it! Our first KORRASAMI inducement-- I mean infiltration-- I mean, interaction... ;)  
> Hope you crazy peeps enjoy!

“Okay, this is it.” Mako said as he veered the large yet inconspicuous black van into a parking space outside the Easter F.I Tech Store. He put the vehicle in park, turned the engine off and leapt into the back compartment of the van where Korra was swivelling on a chair, fiddling with her ear piece until it sat comfortable in her ear. Her gaze shifted back onto the computer monitors linked up with the live surveillance footage from the store. 

“There she is.” She beckoned to the footage from camera 2 in the upper right hand corner. Asami was furiously scribbling in her notebook, a small smile on her lips, as she subtly cast her eyes upward to observe the manager of the store standing nervously before her. His weight shifting from foot to foot. Even from the monitor, Korra and Mako could see beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, and noticed how his shirt clung to his skin at the back.

 

“Boy he’s nervous.” Korra noted. 

“Yeah he’s not the only one.” Mako replied.

“C’mon Mako. When you go up to this woman, I expect there to be words this time you know.” Korra added playfully.

 

On one of their previous missions, Mako stammered a little after approaching a woman at the bar. Even though it was just a ploy to get closer to their target; an arms dealer seated on a stool behind them, so he could further observe and overhear them, Mako fumbled with his words as the blood struggled staying in his brain, simply because of how beautiful the woman was.

“Oh shut up!” he whined, giving her a small shove back, “I’ve got this. Let’s just hope I’m her type.” He said, giving his eyebrows one last pull up, and scruffing his hair a little to the left. 

After testing the earpiece Korra gave him, he leapt out of the van, puffed his chest a little and entered the store.

 

* * *

 

It was only 10am and Asami had already comprised at least 10 pages worth of improvements and observations for the small F.I Tech Store, after being there for less than 2 hours. Her maroon notebook had been filled to the brim this week alone. Her assistant had given Asami her work schedule, each day compartmentalised into blocks for the hours, each block contained a different colour, and the colours filled the hours from 8am until 5pm. Each colour represented something different. Meetings: red. Lunch meets: Green. Presentations: Yellow. Openings: Purple. And one blue block coloured in the same time each day for Asami’s own personal time. She’d wished to fill that spot with a relationship by now, though given her hectic work schedule, she’d doubt she’d manage to uphold a love life, let alone social life this year. Most of her friends didn’t appreciate how little time Asami had left to herself or to socialise, and had drifted apart. The only one who hadn’t was Opal. Her extremely loyal best friend since childhood. “Sorry ‘Sams, guess you’re stuck with me until the day you die.” was something Opal often joked about with Asami. 

Leaning on the front desk of the counter, chatting to a few of the red shirts (shop assistants) Asami noticed a tall, slightly staunch man pace through the store doors in a bit of a hurry. He had dark, spiky hair that stuck out at the front and was dressed in casual clothing; jeans, sneakers and a black polo. His golden brown eyes flicked back and forth around the room, as if he was scanning for something, _or someone,_ she thought. She was proved to be correct, as his eyes landed on Asami and his staunch demeanour kicked in again as he seemingly marched toward her. 

The red shirts had noticed him to, muttering how weird he was acting. Asami heard one mention that he was pretty cute. She ignored all of them, and raised an eyebrow as he steadily approached her. The look of “cool” determination he once wore on his face was slowly disappearing the nearer he drew, until finally, as he was standing a couple feet from her, was completely replaced with small panic and nervousness. She watched the poor boy open his mouth, only for no words to come out. The red shirts looked back and forth between the other, stifling laughter. His golden brown eyes, left hers and glanced embarrassingly at all the red shirts silently watching him behind Asami. She could see that with every passing second, his confidence was slowly but surely slipping away. At the clearing of her throat, his head snapped back to look at her.

 

“S-Sorry,” he stuttered, “I, I was just wondering if you knew where the bathroom was.”

 

Now it was Asami’s turn to try and stifle her laughter, as she smiled sympathetically and pointed the poor boy in the direction of the nearest mens room was. 

As he trudged off, head hung low in what she could only assume was further embarrassment, the red shirts waited until he was well out of sight and sound before they unleashed their hordes of laughter at the strange interaction. 

 

“Oh wow Ms. Sato,” a short and stubby girl said in between chuckles, “did you know you had that type of effect on men?!” she squealed before brushing the tears away from her eyes from laughing so hard so quickly.

 

Asami simply smiled to herself. She did know the exact effect she could bare on certain people. And yet none had managed to create that same effect on her… so far. 

Yes. She was a little cocky. But only because she’d had plenty of experiences in the past that had lead to her self confidence growing as well as leading her to appreciate and know the true extent of her beauty. Though she would never flaunt it deliberately. It just wasn’t in her nature to be boastful.

 

Deciding to slow down a bit for the rest of the morning, Asami let her hair down by donning a F.I Tech Store uniform and working amongst the other red shirts. Getting her hands dirty, as her father would say. It was still early, and she didn’t have to leave for another 2 hours to prepare for a board meeting at 1pm. The red shirts had long since dispersed after this mornings spectacle and the manager had also disappeared back into his office to get started on the minor improvements from his assessment sheet that Asami had handed him. Overall she was very impressed. Every single one of her stores had been the same; the staff loved what they were doing, she noticed the customers were always happy, minimal complaints had ever been made and the products were good. Future Industries and F.I Tech Store were running like well oiled machines. 

Asami let a small wave of please and pride wash over her, before taking over from a red shirt at the front counter, greeting the next customer waiting patiently in line. 

 

* * *

 

 

Mako slipped out of the store before anyone else could see him to prevent further embarrassment and hurried back towards the van.

He could've sworn as he approached, that he could hear Korra's boisterous laughter from outside. Even after muting his earpiece after she cackled in his ear the entire time he stood in front of Asami. 

 

"Don't even say say it. I don't want to hear it." He moaned as he yanked the door open and slid into the back. 

 

Korra completely ignored his protest and her laughter had since doubled upon seeing how flushed Mako was, his face an all new shade of beetroot red. She could tell he'd slapped himself a couple of times once after retreating into the safety of the bathroom after his encounter with Asami. 

Mako waited patiently for Korra to finish chuckling to herself. Each time she'd be close to finishing, she'd simply take one look at his face, make a quick joke and before you know it - the laughter had kicked up again. 

This continued for an hour before Mako finally spoke up.

 

"Okay. Yes. I was taken aback at how beautiful she was, and got a little intimidated but--"

"A little?!" Korra repeatedly, heavy traces of sarcasm in her voice, "Mako. Are you sure you even passed 'seduction school'?!"

"For your information, it's called 'Infiltration and Inducement of Enemy Personnel" and I would've aced it if I hadn't--"

"Hadn't stammered on the spot because you were talking to a pretty girl?!" Korra interrupted, barely finishing her sentence before erupting into fits of laughter.

"No," Mako began glaring at her, "I would've aced it if my professor hadn't been such a jack ass. You do know he failed me because he didn't like me right?!" He protested.

"Or... Maybe he failed you because you choked!"

"I didn't choke!" 

"Alright, alright Mako. No need to get your panties in a twist. I believe you."

"Thank you. Now can we please focus on the mission." he pleaded, diverting his attention as well as Korra's, back to the monitors. 

She'd changed out of her business attire and into a red shirt. Korra decided to wait for the cues to the teller to die down before testing her ear piece once more, Korra leapt out of the van and strolled casually toward the store.

At some point, static began to kick in as Mako tuned the Chief in on their intercom. 

"Mako I have to say," Lin began in her usual, un-entertained, borderline bored 24/7 tone, "that was some of the worst attempt at inducing I've ever seen in my life."

Korra let out a few chuckles and received a few weird side glances from passing strangers as she did. Try as she had, she couldn't resist - Lin almost never joked or poked fun of any kind at any of her agents. She could hear Mako whine and imagined him loathing in self pity, holed up inside the van. 

"I'm sorry! She was more stunning up close than she was on paper! I got a little intimidated" he said.

"Well you better hope Korra doesn't find her as stunning as you did. She's our last shot at this, given how badly you choked." Lin tossed back.

"Ooh, nice one Chief." Korra added.

"Hey. Don't get cocky. Just focus on your mission Korra. Make her like you. Otherwise it's back to bootcamp for the both of you." 

Korra neared the entry way and could immediately make out Asami standing idly behind the counter. Even from this far, Korra could see the slight boredom creeping up on her face as she held her head up by her hand, fixated on the ground as if in a daydream. She was definitely taller than Korra had expected. Korra was inclined to agree; this girl was far, far, far more attractive in person than she was on the assignment. But she wouldn't let it throw her.  _She's just a mission,_ Korra repeated,  _she's just a mission._

 

She inhaled.

 

"You got this Korra." Was the last thing Korra heard as the sliding door opened for her and she wandered inside.

 

Exhaled.

 

* * *

 

The morning rush of customers (mostly bored housewives in their 40's) had been and gone. One by one, most of the red shirts had silently wandered into the staff room for coffee and morning tea breaks. The last red shirt on the counter with her had been roped into assisting two little old ladies carry their giant flat screen TV to the car. In all honesty, Asami thought the elderly women only purchased the TV after gushing about the "tall, handsome and mighty fine" red shirt for at least half an hour after he showed them several top of the range products, and needed an excuse to spend more time with the man. Which just left her. Given how quickly Asami worked, she wasn't surprised to find she'd already achieved everything she came here to do, and still had more than an hour to spare, before she had to leave. She'd assessed the managers, the supervisors and all the staff employees. All the customer feedback sheets that had been filled out contained no complaints, each one indicating a rating of 5 out of 5 for customer satisfaction, staff compliance and general happiness with the store and products available. One even had a small smiley face drawn in the top hand corner, another contained a note "for Lee" written in a hurry with a scribbled, "call, me ;)" and seven digits underneath it.

Asami had a little chuckle at that, believing it to be the work of the two elderly ladies with the flatscreen TV.

Nobody knew had entered the store since the elderly ladies so Asami stood patiently waiting for the next customer, coaxed into a rather odd daydream about greased hog monkeys, a flying lion turtle and a ginger cat.

She hadn't realised just how much time had passed, engrossed in her thoughts with nobody around, before movement out of the corner of her eye captured her attention, shaking her from her stupor. She looked up to find a rather muscly, yet perfectly toned girl, glancing around the first aisle, dressed in a white t-shirt, black jeans topped off with flat leather ankle boots. _She most certainly is attractive,_ Asami couldn't help but think, noticing her caramel coloured skin and soft, cropped brown hair. After a while this girl had spent fixated on the products, she looked up and for the first time Asami got to see her eyes; they were a deep cerulean blue, and stood out more than anything anything else. From afar, she could see Asami checking her out, a small grin appeared on her face, before she wandered over to the next aisle to continue her search.

Every now and then this gorgeous girl with the blue eyes would look up, catching Asami staring each time, holding her gaze before she went back to searching. Asami didn't even know this girl, yet she'd already made her blush at least thirty times. They continued this little game of cat and mouse and sneaky glances for what seemed like eternity before finally the blue eyed girl made her way over to the front counter where Asami stood. 

She stood there for a small while, never taking her eyes off of Asami and Asami in turn, never removed hers, looking at her in complete lust and infatuation as she lazily leaned forward, head held up by her hands. 

The blue eyed girl finally opened her mouth, to say "Hi" grinning pleasantly, white teeth flashing in her gorgeously goofy smile.

"Hello" Asami replied, blushing instantly because this girl was even more stunning up close - if that was even a possibility.

Given Asami's strange yet, repetitive mornings of being approached by nervous, shy and awkward men she could only assume after playing her little game with this girl that she was approaching to ask the same thing. She hoped at least.

"I was wondering if--"

"Yes," Asami interjected before she could even complete her sentence.

The blue eyed girl was a bit taken aback, before she responded, "You don't even know what I was going to ask? In which case, should I be worried?"

"Was it for a date?" Asami wore a smug and confident look upon her face. Which was immediately replaced with shame, embarrassment and a furiously red blush when the girl awkwardly replied with,

"No... I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find AUX chords? Can't seem to find them anywhere" she chuckled lightheartedly.

Asami appreciated her effort at lightening the mood after her stupidly brash assumption, and fiddled with her hands apologising profusely.

The girl just shrugged it off whilst Asami led her to the auxiliary chords seemingly hidden in the back shelves. She fumbled to grab a plain black one and hurried back to the counter with the blue eyed girl in tow. Normally Asami would take her time, enjoy an attractive persons presence for a little longer - but given her major cock up (of which she was EXTREMELY GLAD none of the red shirts had been around to witness) she'd rather just let this person be on their way.

After scanning and placing the AUX chord into a F.I Tech Store bag, and placing the receipt inside, the girl finally spoke up.

"Great, now that that's out of the way," she said confidently, "would you like to go on a date?" 

Asami finally looked up, locking eyes for what must be the ten thousandth time by now, her embarrassment and awkward behaviour immediately pushed to the back of her mind as the front raced with thoughts of,

"W-what? You're... You're actually asking me out?"

"I am."

She tried to open her mouth, but no words came out. Her brain was just overloaded with thoughts and feelings and emotions and the blazing, burning fact that this girl deliberately tripped her up to mess with her a little when her endgame this entire time, was to take Asami out. 

"Or," Korra said after noticing her struggling to form words, "does that previous answer still apply?" 

By this point, Asami no longer fought the blush that rose on her cheeks. And this girl no longer fought the need to fight back her grins as her brilliantly white teeth flashed again and her head tipped to the side a little. 

"I'm just kidding, in all honesty I was a pretty nervous when I walked in here and yes, I was going to ask you out the minute I saw you but couldn't muster up the courage to come over yet hence me wandering the aisles looking lost. But then when you beat me to it, I decided to have a little fun with you first, sorry."

Taken aback by the girls honesty, she couldn't help but accept her apology.

"Don't be. You can't be afraid to mix it up sometimes - in which case yes, my previous answer still applies." 

She began reaching into her handbag sitting behind the counter to give the girl her card, before she realised she hadn't even gotten the girls name. She must've read her mind because no sooner had the thought occurred, she'd spoken up and extended her hand.

"I'm Korra, by the way."

"Asami." she replied, noticing how despite Korra's calloused hands, they remained quite soft and smooth.

"Listen I've got to get back to work, I think I've been flustered enough for one day, but here's my number and we can go on a date sometime" she said as she smoothly slid her card over the counter to Korra.

Korra grinned her brilliant grin once again, as she collected the card, "Definitely. I'll get you flustered all over again tomorrow over dinner? How does that sound?"

"The flustering doesn't sound too good on my end, but the dinner sounds perfect."

"Perfect. I'll call you tomorrow then." Korra said, still grinning goofily as she started making her way out of the store. 

Asami stood, entranced behind the counter, staring at where Korra had once been.  _Korra,_ she thought,  _rolls off the tongue so nicely._

"I hope that's not the only thing my tongue will get to experience." she accidentally muttered aloud -  _mind out of the gutter Asami! You're a CEO for crying out loud!_

Still that didn't stop her from smiling like a love struck idiot throughout the entire day. Even in the business presentation which consisted of fail safe and back up marketing plans should Future Industries ever experience a negative pitch in sales. The coordinator of the meeting found it odd how Asami had stared dreamily at the charts and figures, with a ridiculously happy look on her face - especially for a meeting where they were considering the worst possible outcomes that could occur for the company - but he knew better than to disrupt the CEO. 

No, instead Asami escaped her terribly busy life that barely allowed her to have a social life to innocently run her thoughts about Korra. The first person in a long while that had kept her on her toes and cast her into deep stupors for the remainder of the day, without having spoken more than 10 words to her. 

_I am screwed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt I lost my flow a little as I'm slightly jet-lagged I've literally just leapt off flight after flight and have finally gotten home, so I apologise for that. But given all the amazing responses and comments asking for updates, I felt I couldn't wait and had to update it right now.
> 
> Anyone aware of the Chuck show - I had originally planned to make it more like Chuck, and follow that storyline, but Asami owning a Buy-More/working at a Buy-More didn't really seem to fit (it's Asami Sato after all - kick ass fighting lady, genius engineer, badass CEO and hairbending abilities like you wouldn't believe - she deserves to have all the insane titles that just make you want her life so bad) so yes. I kinda strayed away, but am still keeping Korra an agent, Asami an asset and their relationship will follow through like Chuck and Sarah's in the show. 
> 
> I hope that's okay. It's just where the story is taking me right now and I'm not one to fight a story.
> 
> Also...  
> Poor, poor Mako.


	3. A First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So you crazy people I'm back with another update! As you would've guessed by the title - Korra takes Asami on a date!

Korra took one last glance in the mirror; her short brown hair was down, and came just above her shoulders. She donned a navy, long sleeve chiffon shirt which hung loose at the bottom, black pants that she only ever wore on special occasions because they had cost her a fortune at the time and flat, light brown ankle boots. 

"Let's go over this one more time," Mako said busying himself on his laptop which was currently tapped into the restaurants security feed, "tell me what your plan is."

Korra, reluctant to pry herself from the mirror because let's face it - she looked rather dashing and it had been a while since she had a reason to dress so nicely - groaned and made her way over to Mako.

"The plan, is that I go to Asami's place. Pick her up on my motorbike because I know how nuts she'll go over it. We go to the restaurant where I proceed to be the perfect date; I wine her, dine her and get her to let her guard down by being my usual, charming self." 

"You know, I can't believe you're going on a date with Asami Sato. CEO of a mega cooperation, prodigal engineer, technological whiz... The woman is so out of your league. If there was a league, after out-of-your-league, she'd still be out of it. By far."

"Well Mako considering the fact that I can at least talk to women and not stumble on the spot, nevermind the fact that I can get them to date me based on looks alone, proves that even though she's very well out of my league - i'm still leagues higher than you my friend." She said trying to stifle a laugh. Her words were meant to hit him in the sore spot a little to get him to leave her alone. Because in truth, she knew Asami was well out of her league. She knew she'd never be lucky enough to land a date with her in real life. She had barely begun her mission and she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, and a deep connection to this girl. As much as she wished she didn't. "Besides," Korra continued, "she's just a mission." praying that voicing it out loud would convince her further. 

"That she is. But I still can't believe you managed to persuade her into going out with you." Mako said in disbelief.

"Weren't you listening Mako? I didn't have to convince her, she jumped at the opportunity to go on a date with me. They always do." She said cockily, fixing the last button on her shirt as Mako slipped the wire through and checked the mic. "And again, it doesn't matter if she's out of my league, or how attractive she is, or stunning, or intelligent, or anything because she's just a mission. Like the rest of them."

Mako paused before saying, "Kuvira wasn't."

"That was different. She ended up being recruited by the agency. Asami is the target, not an agent."

"You don't have to convince me Korra. But just remember the number one rule," Mako said before turning back to face Korra looking her sternly in the eyes before handing her, her black leather jacket to put on, "spies don't fall in love."

Korra straightened it out, giving it a couple brushes to flatten it after putting her earpiece in place, "believe me Mako, I know."

Mako gave her a quick nod before shutting his laptop down, grabbing the rest of his gear from Korra's kitchen counter, stuffing it into a large black duffel bag and stepping onto the elevator with Korra in tow. On the ride down, with Mako rambling on about how he'll be observing from afar during their date, Korra couldn't help but let her mind wonder back to the previous day and think of Asami...

 

_ Jesus I can still feel my heart beating out of my chest, Korra thought as she looked down at the business card Asami had just given her not two minutes ago. She relayed the moment over and over and over again in her head; Asami clearly checking her out the second she walked into the store, and not bothering to hide it, her smile permanently etched into her mind, those gorgeous green eyes that pierced into her very soul - just everything about this girl had completely taken Korra by surprise. She wasn't anything alike anyone she'd ever encountered before in her entire life. All those prissy, beautiful, elegant rich girls Korra had experienced, and believed Asami to be, had turned out to be the complete opposite. From what Korra gathered in Asami's file, she worked hard, extremely bloody hard, to prove herself and bring Future Industries to the top as one of the most successful companies in the world. Something MANY people doubted she'd be capable of doing. Her father, despite all his genius, still only managed to make Future Industries a "great" company, Asami made it "the best". She was, down to earth, the money, reputation and social status' hadn't gotten to her head. This girl was not afraid to go after her desires or to voice her opinion - traits Korra also possessed. It took  everything  in Korra not to turn around and sprint back to Asami and kiss her, not even just to kiss her but just to be near her again, because that one interaction had caused the air in Korra's body to leave her, she was worried she'd fly away. Instead, she put one foot in front of the other, and tried to casually strut her way out of the store and back to the surveillance van. Once she was out of sight however, she felt the biggest desire to scream and run frantically around the parking lot because, who was she kidding, she'd JUST MANAGED TO GET A DATE WITH ASAMI, FREAKIN', SATO! Korra took one quick glance around the lot to make sure nobody saw, when she studied the card a little more closely. _

 

_ CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of FUTURE INDUSTRIES _

_ Asami Sato _

_ Followed by her assistants email address, office number, as well as the contact details for the front administrative offices. On the back of the card, Asami had etched her personal number onto it, followed by a smiley face.  _

 

_ The wind picked up a little and Korra clutched the card for dear life. However she couldn't hide the undeniable scent that arose from it; honeysuckle with underlying hints of rose and lily - the same scent Asami wore that filled her nose as she leaned further and further over the counter at Korra - and Korra's eyes closed as she allowed, no welcomed it to her senses once again. _

_ "Looks like I was her type," Korra said smugly to herself as she reached the vans doors, "sorry Mako -- actually no. I'm not sorry." Taking a moment to calm and compose herself after grinning like a lovestruck idiot, before climbing into the van. _

 

* * *

 

The sound of buzzing on the kitchen counter, shook Asami of her thoughts of Korra as she raced to check her phone to find she had one new notification from, speak of the devil, Korra.

"Hey! I'm outside. Your bellman looked a little intimidating so just come out when you're ready :)"

Already a shameless smile tugged at her lips, "That's Tenzin! He's completely harmless! But don't worry, I'm on my way down now. See you in a bit :)"

"Uh, he's bald and has crazy tattoos on his head! A little intimidating if you ask me."

Asami giggled in the elevator and received a few strange looks from another resident riding in the elevator with her. She didn't have to fight for very long to keep her laughs in, as the man stepped out on the laundry room and one floor later, she was in the lobby and Tenzin was bowing to her in an instant.

"Ah, evening Ms. Sato! I think someone is here for you, I did offer for her to come and wait inside but she seemed rather nervous and insisted she wait outside to collect her thoughts first before seeing you."

Another smile tugged at Asami's brilliant red lips, remembering how honest the girl was in admitting she was also nervous when gathering up the courage to ask her out in the store yesterday. She fought to keep the smile contained however, when she saw Korra pacing a little outside, it crept up on her yet again.

"Well, it's nice to know I'm not the only one nervous for this date either" Asami responded before bidding Tenzin farewell. 

The hardwood marble floors clacked rather as as she strode across it in her black open toed high heels, feeling as if she was in a runway and Korra was her judge. It must've worked because no sooner had her internal show begun, Korra had turned and caught Asami, her mouth slightly agape as she eyed Asami up and down.

"You look..." Korra began as she stepped out into the chilly night, Asami could see that she was struggling to find the words and that her mind was racing with ones to choose, "... breathtaking." Sighing deeply and looking at Asami in wonder. 

Like Korra, her lusciously long raven locks dangled down this time, blowing gloriously in the wind. She bore her signature makeup; purple eyeshadow, dark red lipstick, mascara and eyeliner which accentuated her features perfectly. Tight, dark blue skinny jeans clung to her long, lean legs and her dark red halter-neck singlet showed off her equally toned arms. She carried her black blazer in hand and at Korra's beckoning, threw it on quickly.

"You don't look so bad yourself" Asami said as Korra handed her a spare helmet for her motorbike.

"What's this for?" she asked, looking down at the helmet which looked eerily familiar somehow, but slipped it on anyway careful not to mess up her hair.

"I think you already know the answer to that question." Korra replied as she led her toward her custom built motorcycle from Future Industries, inspired by the Ninja H2.

Asami's draw smacked violently against the pavement as soon as she saw it; a dark navy custom built motorcycle. She instantly realised that a couple years ago when Hiroshi Sato was still acting CEO of Future Industries and Asami worked as one of the lead engineers, Korra was the mysterious customer who threw down big bucks to have her own custom built motorcycle. Asami designed it, helped manufacture all the parts and was the sole one to assemble it, give it the paint job as well as test drive it and ensure it's safety. It was her crowning jewel, as she had once said. And here it stood in front of her once again; black rims on the wheels still looked factory-new, the dark navy paint job glistening in the moonlight.

"YOU were the one I designed this for?!" Asami asked astounded. She was met with several chuckles.

"Yeah I was," Korra said rubbing the back of her neck, "When the broker mentioned that Hiroshi's daughter was the one to construct it, I was completely amazed to say the absolute, very least, with the work you did. Entranced, even, that one person was gifted enough to able to do this all by themselves - not to mention within a week!" Korra said with her arms waving about in front of her as she climbed onto the motorcycle, "You're.. You're truly incredible." she said finally as Asami snuggled in closely behind her, tightly wrapping her arms around Korra's waist.

Asami hadn't even been in Korra's presence for less than 30 seconds and she was already fighting to 1. keep herself from being flustered, and 2. resist the urge to drag Korra up into her apartment and have her way with her. Instead she opted for something safe to say, something that can bring her heart rate down several notches.

"Why didn't you tell me that it was you when you asked me out yesterday at the store?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't want you to think, y'no two years later that I was stalking the wonderful person who made the this one-of-a-kind bike or that I'm only asking you out because you made it. I was going to mention it but when I was thinking it through in my head, greeting you for the first time with, 'hey! you made me my motorcycle! wanna go on a date?' didn't seem like the most charming way to go about it..."

"To be honest, I wouldn't have mind you stalking me if it meant going out on a date with you in the end." she replied nonchalantly, though underneath her heart rate had spiked again and she was starting to feel a little hot under all these clothes.

_ You have no idea how close to the truth that is, _  Korra thought, remembering who she worked for and what Asami was, as she revved and the bikes engine roared to life, alerting it's presence to everything and everyone in it's path. Onlookers and passerby's stopped to look at all the commotion, some even whipped out their phones to catch a photo of the two beautiful woman on the gorgeous, dark blue motorcycle. 

"I can't believe it! That after all this time, you were the mysterious, crazy hot and wildly sexy, big spender that insisted on having a custom built motorcycle... Small world..." Her voice trailed off when she realised she'd voiced one too many adjectives to describe Korra.

She simply turned her head around with the visor still flicked up so Asami could see her eyes, "Crazy hot? Wildly sexy? Did that creepy, 40 year old broker really say that about me?" She asked in disbelief.

"No, I might have just let one too many thoughts slip..." Asami said, her eyes shifting to the side as a bright red blush crept up on her cheeks, hoping that it was too dark out for Korra to notice. 

A great big smirk formed on Korra's lips, "well this certainly is a step up from the flustering... I hope they continue to let slip." she said, flipping her visor down and yanking the bikes engine into full throttle, speeding out onto the streets of Republic City.

As they sped into the night, Asami's arms wrapped tighter and tighter around Korra's waist. The closer they got to her pressed skin, the more glad Asami was that she was faced with Korra's back because she was secretly smiling in a daydream-like state and imagining Korra's defined abs hiding underneath her shirt. She let the day dream continue as they raced through the streets, whizzing and swerving in and out of cars, Asami closing her eyes and listening to the sound of the engine hum above the cities ambience, and enjoying the warmth radiating off of Korra.   

 

* * *

 

 

(Meanwhile)

_ "Boss, you're gonna want to take a look at this." A giant, brute of a man strode in with small, weasel like man closely behind him. _

_ In the dimly lit room, he timidly approached the hooded man who sat still in the chair, guards on either side of him and one tall woman stood before him, her hand raised holding the approaching man back slightly. After a gesturing hand emerged from the darkness and waved in the air, he climbed the platform and brought his phone in front of him, enlarging the picture.  _

_ It was a photo of Asami and another figure who's face was obscured from a helmet, on a motorcycle. _

_ "Pretty girl," the hooded man spoke up, "she must be on a date." _

_ "Uh yes sir, this was taken just minutes ago. They're headed to the seaweed joint, Narook's, down on 5th.  _

_ "A team is preparing to head there now." spoke the brute. _

_ "Good, make sure you capture her alive. As for the date, you can kill her." he said coldly before dismissing the informant and the large bodyguard.  _

 

* * *

 

 

"These are so good!" Asami said delightedly in between mouthfuls. When they were texting about potential places to go and have dinner in order to get to know one another better, several places were named, though Korra insisted seeing as she was the one to ask Asami out, that she choose where they were going. When she mentioned Narook's, Asami had to admit, she was a little sceptical, despite all the raging reviews about the "best authentic Southern Water Tribe cuisine in Republic City" but after taking her first step inside the already packed restaurant, and letting the delectable smells of seaweed noodles, seal jerky and other Southern delights waiver into her senses, all previous doubt immediately disappeared and she happily dug into her meal.

"I'm glad you like them! It's the closest thing I've found that resembles Southern cuisine the most. Reminds me of home." Korra spoke up, extremely relieved that Asami was enjoying not just the noodles, but also her company so far.

"You know, even though I gathered that, with your features you hailed from the South, I didn't actually register it. You just seem to be your own sort of unique," Asami said, hoping that the steam from her noodles could pass for being the reason her cheeks were tinted beetroot red.

Korra smiled in acknowledgement and thanked her before continuing to praise Asami, how amazing she was and everything she's managed to achieve. Asami, who was initially thrilled and gushing at Korra's praises, quickly began to lower her head ever so slightly. Certain features on her face twitched and winced a little and Korra knew to stop. She studied the girl a little longer and could see that even though she was grateful and humbled by Korra's acknowledgements, that perhaps, it wasn't what she wanted Korra to touch on - Korra boiled it down to the fact that with Asami in the public eye so often, she must receive praise like this so often, and that it must be hard for her to escape her work, just like Korra.

Korra quickly spoke up to apologise and try to change the subject, but when Asami began to dismiss her only to shift her gaze away from Korra and fumble with her hands on the table, Korra reacted. 

"Look," Korra said gently placing a hand on Asami's to bring her gaze back to her, "I know that given how you've grown up in the public eye, and have been groomed for succession you probably hear stuff like that so often, and even though it's true and the company you run is amazing, your father is amazing, the products are amazing and everything Future Industries has managed to achieve is amazing, do you want to know what amazes me more?"

"What?" Asami softly mumbled, a slight blush on her cheeks, though she still chose not to face Korra.

"You. Not just because you helped get the company where it is today, in fact, nothing even related to the company at all. Just, you and the way you've made me feel." Asami looked at her now, in slight confusion.

"When I first saw you, that day at the store, truth is I'd strolled past a few times that day. I was on my way to the bakery across the road when I looked inside and saw you, leaning over the counter, talking to a couple of old ladies who were gesturing at some big, bulky guy in the store. The minute I saw you, you took my breath away. I couldn't breathe, I felt my knees go a little weak, and I had this strange sensation in my stomach, it was almost like a tingling sensation..." Korra said, her eyes had dropped a little to look at their empty bowls on the table as she recollected. By this point, Asami had already looked up and stared Korra straight in the eyes, her breath had also caught in her throat listening to Korra's confession. "I know, I know, it sounds cliche, but the reason I'm telling you is because nobody has ever done that to me before. And I'm not just saying this because of who you are, or what you do, I'm saying it because it's true. I couldn't actually even see you properly from that far away so I couldn't recognise who you were, I just saw you wearing the F.I Tech Store shirt, I didn't care where you worked, or what you did I just knew I had to meet you, to tell you how special you are because of what you did to me. What I'm getting at here is, I don't want you to think I'm only interested in you because of who you are to the rest of the world or the things you've done for the company, I'm interested because of the person you are underneath all that and how you've managed to make me feel things I've never with anyone else before."

They now both looked each other in the eyes, neither one dropping their gaze. Korra couldn't help but feel a lingering need to close the short distance that separated herself from Asami. Asami must've sensed it too because her brilliant green eyes, dropped to Korra's lips and licked her own ever so slightly. Korra slowly began to close the gap, when the bill suddenly fell onto the table and their bowls were gathered up and cleared away by the waiter. 

Korra retracted her hand and reached for the book the same time Asami did. Their eyes met again, though with slight challenge to pay the bill. Asami yanked it slightly towards her before Korra gently slapped her hand away and taking advantage of her barely opened grasp, snatched it away from Asami. Asami tried to protest but Korra simply raised her hand to cut the woman off, "I asked you out on the date, so I am going to pay!" She was immediately met with disagreements as Asami tried to argue it was her who agreed to the date and wanted to pay, but Korra shoved the paid bill into a passing waiters hand who gave her a somewhat disturbed look before proceeding to the cashier.

They stayed at the restaurant for another hour getting to know one another better. It was filled with boisterous laughs, jokes, embarrassing childhood stories where reluctantly shared, along with regrets from previously failed relationships and Asami, feeling so at ease and comfortable in Korra's presence even shed a little light on her upbringing mentioning that her father unintentionally neglected her growing up, as he was constantly working and busying himself after her mother was murdered by a member of the old Agni Kai Triad crime organisation. Korra had of course read about this in her file yesterday once they got back to headquarters. Lin had told her that while many knew of the murder of Yasuko Sato, not many people had seen or understood how it affected Hiroshi and Asami. She said that if Asami mentioned anything at all about her mother's passing, that it was a sign she was letting her guard down with Korra, for neither Hiroshi nor Asami ever spoke about the darkest day's of their lives and to even get them to mention it, was a miracle. And now that Korra was here with her, getting to know this beautiful girl before her in person and not through a flimsy A4 manilla file, the warmth she initially felt that had spread through her entire body knowing Asami trusted her enough to open up about her past, only brought her guilt and painful reminders that she couldn't open herself up to Asami in the same way she had. That Asami was first and foremost, a mission for Korra. Korra knew she was gaining a deeper connection to the girl, and while this would excite and please others, she couldn't help but feel afraid. Because of who she really was. Like Asami, she hid under a mask. The public saw her, but they never understood her. It frightened Korra because she knew she'd already begun developing feelings for Asami which she couldn't deny, though would never admit to having them out loud, but knew there would always be something standing in the way for them. Korra slid her hand across the table once again to rest on Asami's and gave her an acknowledging smile which thanked her for trusting Korra enough to open up to her.

The sound of an empty restaurant, followed by the final plates being cleared away forced Asami and Korra to peel out of the booth and make their way out. Korra stood and helped Asami into her blazer, "thank you, by the way," she said softly turning to face Korra as they walked side-by-side out into the cool, crisp night, "not just for taking me out, or paying for dinner or listening to me intently and patiently, but for saying what you said."

"Don't mention it" Korra replied smiling widely at Asami as they slowly wandered over to Korra's motorbike parked several spots down from the restaurant. Neither one wanted the date to end and happily took their time walking.

"No seriously, thank you. I've been used far too many times by people who have only ever been interested in my money, or status, or position. It's honestly gotten to the point where I don't even date or have friends anymore because of how they saw me. I was only ever seen as a rich girl who was never denied anything in her entire life. And while I admit I was very fortunate to have a more than privileged upbringing, I was still lonely. But you," she said stopping in the middle of the road just before the motorcycle to stand squarely in front of Korra, "you're the first person that has been able to see me for me. So thank you." A blush creeping up on her face after a confession of her own.

Korra nodded, not daring to move as Asami was already so close to her, standing just inches from her. "You know," Korra said, slowly inching forward, "I'm pretty sure most girls aren't meant to get so flustered on a first date," lightening the mood and bringing out the desired said reaction in Asami.

"Well I guess I'm not like most girls then." Asami countered, reiterating Korra's earlier confession. 

"That you certainly aren't," Korra replied still closing the gap at a torturously slow pace, "and to think I've got you this flustered without even kissing you."

There was a small pause before Asami asked, "what if I want you to kiss me?" subtly biting her bottom lip.

"Isn't there a first date rule that says I shouldn't?" Korra said, enjoying this exhilarating back and forth flirtatious banter between her and Asami.

"I'm sure there's a rule that says you have to." her lips hovering closer to Korra's.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Well... It depends on who you ask." Asami said, her brilliant red lips now a needles width apart from Korra's. Korra could feel Asami's air on her face and already taste her minty breath in her mouth. Korra slowly brought her hands up to gently cup Asami's cheeks, relishing in the feel of her soft, porcelain skin and one slid hand around to rest on the back of her neck to draw her closer before leaning in to close the shortened gap.

No sooner had their lips just brushed, a large, black SUV with lights on full beam violently skidded around the corner and now charged directly towards Asami and Korra. Korra ripped her hands away from Asami and was now pushing her back to stay behind her. The SUV made no move to slow down or signal for them to get out of the way and so Korra shoved Asami onto the pavement and at the very last second leapt out of the way, landing on the ground next to Asami.

"Are you okay?!" She asked Asami who still looked to be in complete shock with what just happened. She didn't have time to register however as Korra yanked Asami to her feet and tossed her onto the motorcycle, starting it up just as the SUV made a U-turn at the bottom of the street. Asami barely slipped her helmet on in time before the jerk reflex from the bikes and full throttle engine being put to use, sped out onto the street with the SUV quickly behind them.

Korra could hear Asami yelling asking who they were, and what they wanted and why they were chasing them but Korra didn't respond. Her training kicked in as her number one priority was now protecting Asami. Mako had seen the sudden commotion and was quickly directing Korra to the nearest building with a helicopter pad on the roof for extraction. The closest was either a 20 minute drive through the suburban route or 10 minute drive away through the busiest part of Republic City; downtown. Korra briefly stopped trying to decide on a route, seeing that downtown was completely filled with satomobiles, taxi's, busses, not to mention tonnes of pedestrians flocking to the streets, stalls and clubs for Republic City's infamously wild nightlife scene. During this time, Asami was still frantically demanding answers to her questions and paused with concern when she realised Korra hadn't been wearing a helmet just now. Korra raised a hand to her ear as Mako said they were on their way with a chopper and would be there in 10 minutes. Korra's mind was made up, as Asami's death grip on her waste tightened once again as the sight of the SUV approaching caught their eye and Korra sped chaotically into downtown Republic City. She weaved in and out of people, stalls, vehicles with the black rover not too far behind. As she neared the area with more pedestrians she slowed her pace a little to give her more time to react with the dangerously busy scene, but the SUV was right on their tail. Then Korra saw it, the way to lose their tail; stacks of old, abandoned stalls and junk piled up on the right sidewalk. "Korra..." Asami said noticing the car getting closer and closer and that Korra hadn't slowed down as a pivoted stall was approaching, "Korra!" she screamed a little louder but was still met with no response, "KORRA!" she screamed frantically as the SUV bumped their bike before Korra revved, "Hang on tight!" and launched the bike up into the air. Asami watched beneath her as the distance from the ground grew rapidly and watched in horror as the SUV rolled after colliding with stacks of empty stalls and smashed into a street pole. Korra continued to drive on stopping a few buildings after the wreckage, tossing her bike out of sight behind large dumpsters and grabbed Asami's hand leading her up the stairs of an abandoned building and out the fir-escape. Once they reached the rooftop Korra was impatiently checking the time on her watch as she checked her earpiece to see how far away Mako was with backup. She still held a hand in front of Asami to keep her behind her as Korra stood facing the entryways to the roof, arms raised in defence. 

"Korra! Who were they?! And what the hell is going on!?" Asami yelled whacking her hand away, demanding answers. 

"Look, I don't know who they are but I know they're after you. It's my job to protect you, at all costs" Korra said breathlessly, her mind was very much aware of the gun tugged into her back that she had grabbed from her bike when Asami wasn't looking, her hand hovered slightly towards it when she heard staggered footsteps approaching from the fir-escape. 

"Protect me at all costs? What does that even mean?! Who are you?!" Asami asked wide eyed, her heart was still threatening to burst out of her chest and adrenaline filled her lungs. 

"All I can say is that I'm an undercover agent, and I was assigned to this task to protect you."

Asami stared at her in disbelief, pang of hurt reached her eyes as she ultimately realised Korra wasn't the person she thought her to be. Korra tried turning back to give Asami a more detailed explanation about who she was and why she's doing what she's doing when a  weary head appeared from the fir-escape, and Korra whipped the gun out from behind her and aimed it at the oncoming target. 

"Get behind me." Korra ordered Asami, her eyes trained on the approacher. 

"Korra what the hell?!--"

"Asami! Get behind me!" without another word Asami stood cautiously behind Korra once she realised the man approaching them was gripping a gun in his hands, his head dripping with blood and his clothes stuck to them, his white business shirt completely stained red.

"Who are you, who do you work for?!" Korra barked at the man but was met with no answer. Instead he begun to raise his gun at Korra. She heard Asami's breath hitch in her throat and instantly levelled her gun to shoot it out of the mans hand before he could use it. The man dropped to the ground first screaming in pain from the aftershock of the shot before his cries became stifled and Korra could see pieces of the gun lodged into his hand from shredding his gun to pieces. 

Korra, with her gun still raised marched over to the man on the ground and hovered it in front of him, "I said, who do you work for?!!" she growled once again, but the man didn't respond. Blood began freely running from his nose and head, his eyes stared off at the helicopter approaching and settling onto the helicopter pad before they lost the light in them and the air left his lungs.

Mako emerged from the chopper covered head to toe in SWAT gear as he signalled for two more members to wrap the body in the military issued body bags and hoist it onto the back compartment of the chopper out of sight. It would later be inspected to find any clues as to who he might be and what organisation he belonged to before being sent to the morgue. 

Asami was already onboard, being checked by the SWAT members to ensure her vitals were normal. She blankly looked ahead in shock and disbelief at the nights events as a member flashed a light in her eyes checking her responses. Korra was relieved that at the very least Asami was visibly and physically fine, and that she'd managed to keep her alive throughout the chase but felt major guilt and regret for how the night had ended especially given how spectacular their date had quickly and unexpectedly turned dangerous.

"What's the update?" Korra asked Mako who was still scanning the area.

"There were two others in the SUV but they died upon impact with the street pole, so no witnesses, therefore your cover is still intact and hasn't been compromised. There were no clues as to who they are so far, but hopefully the analysts can provide some kind of follow up report on the matter. Chief has already initiated round the clock care and undercover supervision on Ms. Sato's home, but for the next few days has her placed in the CIA's bunkers at Castle until they can give her the all clear to move back into her home." 

"Where are we going now?" She asked as they made their way back to the chopper. 

"For now we're going back to Castle, Chief's already there and requesting to see both of us immediately." He responded climbing into the front seat of the chopper just as it began to slowly lift into the air. 

Asami's eyes were trained on Korra the entire helicopter ride, hoping for some sort of explanation in Korra's eyes or at the very least trying to figure out the person she thought she shared a deep, emotional connection with, but they never met hers. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite the journey, I know. It was a bit of a mission writing this because all I wanted was for them to have a perfect little date and smooch the night away, but then I realised I wouldn't be able to better incorporate (or in this case shove) Asami into Korra's true world or get them to grow together as I've planned.
> 
> You have no idea how many times I wanted to just have these two seal the deal, there were so many moments where it could have happened too, but the painful reminder that for Korra, Asami is a mission and Mako's foreboding warning of spies falling in love, kept driving me to keep the two apart. There's something I find extremely intriguing in 'forbidden love' type situations or the struggle to attain ones love and this is pretty much going to happen for Korra and Asami. Where, Korra has already felt a deep connection to this girl who is meant to be just another mission. As an agent, Korra isn't allowed to have connections as it's extremely risky and could lead to her compromising herself due to the fact that her feelings and emotions would be greatly involved in missions. What I'm trying to do is just explain the Chuck franchise a little for those who haven't seen it or heard of it, as it is my reasoning for why Korra will be held back from freely pursuing a relationship with Asami amongst the chaos. I may be giving so much away already, but it's Korra and Asami - these two are meant to be together no matter what fictional universe they're placed into.
> 
> So once again let me know what you think. This is an action-romance-love-smut-fluff-angst type fiction, so despite all the violence and chaos there will be just as much, if not more, korra and asami moments to make up for it. 
> 
> If I didn't mention before, this is a bit of a slow burn - at least depending on chapter lengths - but Asami and Korra will definitely have their moment(s) because I've planned the story around it ;)


	4. Official Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami stumbles into a whole new world...

Throughout the entire ride, and long after they'd landed, Asami was still unable to comprehend what occurred tonight. Between their first encounter, the perfect date and the almost kiss which followed, right up to the point where Korra had saved her, confessed her true identity, then at a crucial moment when Asami needed to hear an explanation, to calm her, reassure her she instead avoided Asami, almost acting as if she didn't even exist and Asami didn't know what or how to feel. She felt too much. Too much to the point where it made her numb. 

Anger. Joy. Fear. Lust. Hurt. Trust. Betrayal. It was all, too overwhelming. Too hard to process, to enwrapped with what happened, if it really did happen or not and how she felt about it or at least, deciphering how she felt about it all-- it had Asami completely engrossed with her thoughts that she hadn't noticed for the last 20 minutes, she'd been guided down turning corners, empty hallways in what seemed to be an underground labyrinth of paths, and windowless walls until finally she was seated here; _but w_ _here was 'here' exactly?_ She thought as she looked around the room, taking in as many details as possible.

It was a comfortable room if anything, which Asami found odd. Dark grey, carpeted floors, a long varnished desk was in the middle of the room and she sat behind it, in a wooden chair, cushioned seats, the wallpapers all wooden, same hue as the chair and desk. A projector behind her, and the large white screen in front of it. Another chair, identical to hers was across from her and tall plants had been placed in the corners of the room.  _This room is so I'll feel more at ease,_ she realised. Thinking back to all the shows and movies she'd watched about law enforcement, agencies and the government. 

She didn't have time to consider which shows, before a tall, brooding woman with grey hair and piercing green eyes strolled through the doorway and sat in the chair opposite her, placing a recorder which, given the flashing red light, indicated that it had already been turned on before she entered the room, slightly to the right, and just one manilla file on the desk with her hands resting on it.

"Ms. Sato," the lady said, "firstly, I'm General Lin Beifong, or 'Chief' as most of the agents prefer call me. Now don't be alarmed about where you are or why you're here, we'll get to that in a second. For now, I just want to talk to you about what happened tonight." she said, never once taking a pause for air. Giving the impression that she had perhaps given this speech a few times before. 

"I don't understand - why can't Korra talk to me about this? She's the one who was there with me after all -- Where is she now?" Asami asked, panic starting to build in her voice. 

"There's no need to worry Ms. Sato. Agent Korra is currently being debriefed about tonights events. I am here to simply talk to you. May I continue?" _Agent Korra, there it is again. Another reminder that tonight was probably just a standard operation - but if that's true - then why did she almost kiss me? Make me feel things and ways toward a person that I've never felt before? Surely it wasn't just a lie? A sham?_ Asami broke from her thoughts, looking up to Lin patiently staring at her, waiting for her response. She gently nodded. 

Lin then proceeded to get Asami's side of the story from the very beginning. Korra picking her up and the exact time, which route they took to Narook's, the time they arrived, anyone else she could remember seeing at the restaurant or at all, all the way up until the chopper had landed on the roof and SWAT teams were waving flashlights in her eyes. Even with Asami going into excruciating detail about as much as she could remember, she still wasn't paying her full attention. Her mind constantly drifting to Kor-- Agent, Korra. 

"Now, we can't actually allow you to go back to your apartment yet. It could be a potentially dangerous situation, given everything that's happened tonight, and we'd rather not risk it. Until we can give you the full clearance and enforced some security measures, we've set you up with a room for the night where you'll be safe." Asami nodded to show her understanding.

"Who are the people after me? Do you know what they want with me?"

"We aren't sure who they are just yet. In the past 6 months alone our analysts have recorded a spike in hackings and other technological crimes across the country. Thankfully we've managed to shut them all down so far, and keep the situation contained. However the criminals come back each time with more advanced hacks, and twice as many tricks up their sleeves. We figured that eventually, these people would try and use the brightest minds in the world to aid their crimes. Given that you, Ms. Sato, are the current CEO of one of the biggest corporations of our time, and are an extremely intellectual being, with specialised skills in technology and engineering, we kept an eye on you, garnering that sooner or later, they would appear to take advantage of your skills - and they did."

"So you knew this was going to happen? You knew these criminals would try to capture me? Is that why Korra approached me? Because she was ordered to? It wasn't _just_ for a date?..." Asami said in a hushed tone, her gaze lowered in slight embarrassment for thinking Korra approached Asami simply because she liked her and wanted to get to know her.

"I ordered Agent Korra to approach you in order to protect you," Lin clarified before continuing, "We felt tensions beginning to rise after the criminals had suddenly gone silent after a constant onslaught of hacks and hijinks. We predicted the occurrence of kidnappings within the following week, which is why I assigned Korra and her team to your case. You were her mission."

_I was just her mission._ Those words kept circulating round and round her head. Those stupid, 5 letter words.  _I was just her mission._ Asami made a mental note,  _new 5 letter word to hate: "I was just her mission", which definitely tops the other 5 letter words I hate to hear: "It's not you, it's me" and "We can still be friends."_

Asami accidentally scoffed out loud, which gave her an unamused look from Lin. Trying to distract herself from even further embarrassment of the red blush slowly heating up her cheeks, she asked, "So what happens now?"

To this Lin removed her hands from atop the manilla folder. A small label directly in the middle with her name on it, indicated that this was the kept file the CIA had on her that Lin had mentioned earlier. Lin opened it, revealing Asami's photograph attached to, what appeared to be a temporary contract. Beneath the papers, Asami could see another contract. The photo in the top left hand photo couldn't be seen all too well, but it looked like Korra's photo, Asami guessed judging the soft brown hair she recalled the girl having. 

"Now, Ms. Sato, we're giving you a choice to help take down the people who are after you." Lin said, the contract still in her possession. 

"W-What? You can do that? Just recruit anyone off the street to work with you to help hunt down criminal masterminds?" Asami asked bewildered.

"Well, no, not anyone. Normally we'd just assign agents to tail the asset and remain undercover, but, given how serious this case is, not just for our national security, but also for you, we're willing to waiver it. As I've mentioned before Ms. Sato, you have extensive skills and knowledge which could be put to use and find these criminals before they find you." Lin finished, sliding Asami's contract forward to inspect it. It had mapped out all the details. If Asami accepted, she wouldn't become a full pledged member of the CIA, she would just become a temporary "asset". She would accompany her team on missions to help where required, but only if her team deemed it safe for her to join seeing as she was technically still a civilian. Whilst working for the CIA she is absolutely not allowed to compromise her role or her teams roles or identities to anyone outside the agency. There were tonnes more details spanning across 10 pages which Asami read completely, ensuring she wouldn't miss a single thing. 

"What happens if I don't sign it?"

"If you don't sign it, we'll assign agents to tail you in order to ensure your protection and work undercover to hopefully catch the criminals in the act."

"And if I do?" Asami said, picking up the pen and hovering over the contact.

"If you do sign the contract, you will upkeep your usual day to day routine to avoid suspicion whilst also working with us to help capture the criminals at large," Lin slid the other contract out from under the manilla file, and placed it in front of Asami, "Agent Korra will become your handler and you will work alongside her." Lin said pointing her finger to Korra's signed signature at the bottom. "Once your mission is complete, and we've caught the people after you, then your job is done and you will be free to go back to your normal life. The choice is yours Ms. Sato." then Lin sat back in her chair as if she already knew what Asami's decision would be. 

Asami could've sworn she saw Lin's lips curve slightly into a smirk as she reached over and signed the contract. 

Lin stood, gathering up the contracts and placing them back into a manilla file as an officer standing at the foot of the door came in to collect it from her. 

"Welcome aboard, Ms. Sato" Lin said extending her hand.

 

* * *

  

Once they got back to Castle Korra and Mako were immediately escorted inside and quickly debriefed by their superiors. During their meeting they were instructed about what happens now based purely on the assumption that Asami will agree to work alongside them. Seeing as Korra had already established a connection, she would become Asami's handler and the two would resume a cover. It would now become her responsibility to ensure Asami's safety and protection, not just on missions, but at all other times as well. Mako would become their unofficial team leader - he would handle team plans for missions, intel, weapons - basically all the things Mako normally does (because as Korra put its, he's married to his job). They were dismissed and not two minutes out the door, on their way back towards the main meeting room in Castle, Mako had already delved into talking changes to infiltration plans given the possible new addition to their team, for their upcoming assignments. 

Korra gave a light hearted chuckle, and commented where necessary, but her thoughts and attention were stolen from Mako and set upon the beautiful green eyed girl tucked away in one of the many meeting rooms in the facility. She hadn't realised just how much time had gone by before she found herself in the main room, slouched in a desk chair. 

"You're looking a little pale, you okay?" Mako asked reaching for his steaming mug, and accidentally stirring Korra from her waking thoughts. 

"Yeah, my minds just a bit preoccupied thinking about what happened tonight." Korra said, rubbing sleep from her eyes. It was past midnight and Asami had been in there talking to Chief for over an hour now. 

"Tell me about it! High speed chase out of nowhere, the huge crash you only narrowly avoided downtown, the shooter on the roof. One hell of a night, huh?" He said, slowly sipping his decaf. 

"Uh yeah, one hell of a night." She repeated, though _that_ wasn'tthe part she was referring to. She was secretly thinking about how she nearly kissed Asami. Which, though she wouldn't have minded at the time given how alluring the girl was this evening, could've severely pooched their newfound situation of Korra becoming Asami's handler. She could've compromised herself and spilled her thoughts and feelings well before the mission had even begun. _Well that's IF Asami signs the contract_. Given how Korra practically had to manipulate the poor girl to get her to out on a date with her, then lie about who she really was the entire night, she wasn't so sure Asami would, she wasn't even sure if she wanted her to. Having to work around her for who knows how long, hide her feelings whilst keeping Asami's in check - it just seemed, dangerous. 

The sound of heels clacking against the stone cold floors from behind a hidden doorway, jolted Mako and Korra up out of their seats to greet whoever was coming through into Castle. 

Mako stifled a yawn just as the door slowly opened to reveal Lin's accompanying officer, followed by Lin herself, followed shortly by "Asami..." Korra quietly mumbled to herself as she felt her breath catch one again. Even though she knew she didn't say it loud enough to be heard by the approaching party, Mako heard it and shot her a look out of the corner of his eye.

Inhale. 

"Ms. Sato this place is 'Castle' - your teams primary base of operations. It houses your equipment, gear, weapons, intel, anything you may need for missions. And this is your team," Chief said as she gestured toward them, "allow me to introduce Agent Mako," she said as Mako formerly extended his hand to shake Asami's. A slight blush creeping onto his cheeks as Asami's eyes widened once she realised just  _where_ she had seen Mako from, but he gave a professional nod towards her anyhow, "and this as you already know, is Agent Korra." Lin finished.

Even though they knew each other, Korra extended her hand anyway, "It's nice to officially meet you" Korra said with a small, genuine, smile. She studied her gorgeous green eyes and noticed they'd lost a little light in them. They held instead a pang of hurt, shame, even embarrassment. Korra bit back the urge to say anything further, especially in front of her superiors who will now be watching her every move as Asami's handler.

"You too, _Agent_ Korra." Asami replied. Korra picked up a very subtle exaggeration on the 'Agent' and tried her best not to let out a sigh or show any kind of reaction towards Asami's slightly distasteful addressing of her. 

"Now Ms Sato, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your quarters." Lin said guiding Asami down Castle's corridors into the sleeping chambers.

Korra didn't exhale until Asami left the room, and even with her gone she still felt terribly tense and irritated. Something in Asami's tone, the look in her eyes - it had thrown her off, to say the least. Rather than dwell on it, Korra decided to join Mako in catching up with filing work. 

"She's pissed at you." Mako said once they were left alone.

"Why wouldn't she be? I basically manipulated her feelings and lied about who I really was. All part of the mission though, right?" Korra replied, trying to sound upbeat and nonchalant, trying not to show Mako what she really thought or how much her actions towards Asami truly bothered her. What she didn't understand was why - why as she feeling this way now? on the most important mission she's given thus far, one where all eyes are going to be on her, assessing her, expecting her to keep her feelings and her assets feelings in check. She'd never dangled this close to the line between professional and unprofessional. Never worried about feeling too deeply for someone who one day, could possibly become disposable. Expendable. 

The thought alone made Korra uncomfortable. Sent shivers up her spine. Caused every hair on her body to stand at the end. 

"Either way, you need to fix it. I don't want there to be any conflict on any of our missions. We all need to be working together like one well oiled machine and that can't happen if the asset is throwing a tantrum at her handler." He said sternly

"I know. I'll fix it." 

More than half an hour had gone by with them both working in comfortable silence, until Mako cleared his throat declaring that he was beat, calling it a night. Before he left, he walked over to the mini kitchen area, made two hot chocolates and gave Korra a knowing look as he ascended the stairs to the main entrance/exit. "Don't stay up too late, and don't do anything stupid. We have an early start tomorrow" he called out to her before the metal door slid shut behind him.

Korra leant back in her chair. Her files scattered around her in a messy heap whilst Mako's were in a neat pile stacked in a box. She pushed off the table and the chair slid towards the wall where she gazed down the hallway to the sleeping chambers. 

_She's just down there..._ Korra thought to herself. She studied the hot chocolates sitting steaming on the counter, then glanced back toward the corridor. She chuckled aloud upon realising why Mako made them in the first place.

 

* * *

_She's just up there. Go out, talk to her, apologise for the way you behaved - she was just doing  her job, she's an agent after all._ "Yeah, a bloody good one at that" Asami said. "Tricking me, making me like her, being the perfect date, nearly kissing me - yeah, she's really good at her job." Asami sighed, sinking onto her bed. The room the government had set her up in was simple, but cosy. A single bed against the wall, there was a small en suite bathroom, a dresser, and comfortable lounger in the corner. The walls and floors were the same as the rest of Castle; cool, grey, metallic, almost as if the facility they were in was an underground bunker of sorts. It was impressive to say the least. After her meeting with Chief Beifong, her focus was back and she studied the labyrinth of hallways and pathways they'd crossed before entering a strange, large door, almost camouflaged against the cement walls, into Castle. It made her realise there were probably other bases of operations hidden in the secret maze underneath the city. To think, that all these years she'd wandered above the streets, and looked up to the sky and studied the buildings that made up Republic City skyline, looked to the streets and seen the assortments of vehicles, modes of transportation, devices, phones, computers and thought how to better it all, that a labyrinth full of secrets lay beneath the grounds she and her father had bettered all these years. 

And now, she'd been "given" a glimpse into that world that lay hidden underground. A world that Korra had unintentionally, "introduced" her to. "Given" and "introduced" she decided were nice ways to put it. She'd been given a harsh, back handed glimpse, and violently thrown into this new world.

She'd been both internally kicking herself and praising herself for the way she'd behaved towards Agent Korra in Castle tonight, for the past half hour. Given how nervous she was she was glad she was able to get in a subtle verbal blow at Korra, and maintain a straight face whilst doing it too, without drawing too much attention to the situation. She felt an incredible urge to smirk in front of Korra when she did, until she saw Korra's brows furrow the slightest bit at her words before she regained her composure and stared at her blankly, trying to look unaffected. Which was when she began kicking herself. 

"Uggggghhhh!" Asami groaned in frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her life, though busy had been relatively normal, organised. She knew what to expect and when to expect it. But when that damn girl with the beautiful blue eyes and tan skin had walked into her life, she never expected her to flip everything around so quickly, so suddenly. A small part of her almost wished she'd never entered her life --

*knock, knock, knock*

Three knocks at her door shook Asami of her thoughts. She stood, brushing her jeans and straightening her shirt for whoever stood on the other side of the door. She clutched the handle, twisted the door knob and opened it - her breath caught in her throat. 

"Korra" she gasped, struggling for the air that had left her.

"Hi," she nodded politely. Asami looked down to see she was clutching two mugs of what looked like hot chocolate, _she came to see me,_ she thought as she shifted to the side and gestured for Korra to come inside. Korra gladly accepted her invitation by strolling inside. She held a mug out to Asami, "this is for you. I wasn't sure if you'd still be up or not, but I thought I should come see you and talk to you either way."

"Thank you," Asami said as she took the mug from Korra. Their hands touched for a moment too long, and Asami felt the air that had recently come back to her body, leave her again and a heat rise up in her cheeks. She quickly turned and went to sit on her bed while Korra took to the chair. 

Despite the quiet sips and slurps, the room had grown into an uncomfortable, tense and awkward silence before Asami cut through the tension, "So you wanted to talk to me?"

"Uhh, I did. I just wanted to apologise for tonight and the way everything went down." Korra said, her gaze fixated on her mug. A frown upon her face.  

"Korra -- Is it alright if I call you Korra?," Korra, without looking up gave a small nod and the reminder that Korra lied kicked back in again. But Asami knew to let it go, "you don't have to apologise"

"I don't?" she said quizzically, looking up to meet Asami now. 

"You don't. I know I may have acted a little snooty back there, but I've had more than enough time to think and I realised you were just doing your job. It's silly for me to be mad at you because you lied - being an agent isn't something you can tell just anyone, so I'm sorry. If it weren't for you, I would be kidnapped or worse by whoever's after me. So really I should be thanking you for saving my life."

Korra nodded and smiled gratefully to show her appreciation of Asami's understanding. They continued to slurp their mugs in peace, the earlier tension and awkwardness replaced surprisingly quickly with a warm, comfortable silence. It felt like even though the words had been said, the apologies weren't entirely necessary - for each one knew how the other felt, and what they meant. Asami found it funny, how even though she hadn't known Korra long, even less longer than she'd known the real Korra - she still felt that connection, that unbreakable bond, that she hadn't felt with anyone else. A part of her wished it wasn't shared with Korra, because she knew she'd never be able to _know_ her, but another part was glad it was, because it was that unique, that uncommon, that _special._

"So what exactly is this place?" Asami asked, her curiosity as usual, getting the better of her.

"It's Castle. It's our base of operations. As Chief said, it houses everything we may ever need but it also serves as an underground bunker. There are many other bases like this underneath the city that are linked to buildings the CIA puts up as a front. So for example, this one is beneath a yoghurt shop."

"The government owns yoghurt stores?" Asami asked incredulously.

"The government owns _a_ yoghurt store. It's all for cover. What's important about this one is that it's right across the road from Future Industries." 

"Seriously?" she suddenly remembered the announcement of the yoghurt "franchises'" purchasing of the old factory building a month ago and it's recent openings the very day she met Korra in the F.I Tech Store. 

Korra nodded and continued, "while you work with us, I'm going to be monitoring everything here from the store and Mako will be working with you as your second secretary at Future Industries."

"Mako? The guy who fumbled in the store that day you asked me out? That guy, working closely alongside me..." She asked, eyebrows raised in doubt and suspicion, "you're sure he's gonna be able to talk - my first assistant is so busy that she almost never stops talking."

Korra chuckled, "don't worry he's surprisingly good at playing secretary. He's very detail oriented, bit of a perfectionist too - he may well just be the best assistant you ever had."

"Well now you've got my hopes up. Anything goes wrong I'm blaming you." Asami joked.

"It's okay, I could handle the blame" Korra responded, smirking in delight.

"Mm... I don't know, I can be pretty ruthless" Asami said, her wits already about her.

"I'm sure I can suffer through it."

And just like that, their flirtatious banter was back. They'd forgotten the near death experience, the fact that they were in an underground CIA facility, that Korra was an agent and Asami was now cooperating with the government to take down the dangerous criminals after her. After a few relaxed words, small smiles, light chuckles and a blush, they were back to square one. Asami flabbergasted by Korra's charm and down to earthiness. Korra must've noticed how quickly the atmosphere and conversation changed too because she was on her feet already and moving rather stiffly to collect Asami's empty mug.

"Anyway if anything does go wrong or looks suspicious from the outside or inside, we'll take care of it." She said, not looking at Asami anymore and being sure their hands didn't touch.

"Wow. I don't really know what to say. Glad in knowing that all this is for my protection or worried that I need to be protected in the first place." She countered, though not spitefully as she handed over her cup.

"I understand it can take a while to adjust, but you have to understand you're a very important person to a lot of people, me included." Korra added, before quickly moving for the door.

"Yeah I get it, I'm your mission." Asami sighed, running a hand through her hair. 

Korra was now outside in the empty hallway, looking more confident and self assured, her easy personality she displayed just a minute ago, replaced with a more professional demeanour. "It's getting a little late, we've got a big day tomorrow. We'll be getting you up to speed on everything and filling you in on covers, so I should let you get some rest. Oh and the governments pretty efficient so you'll be back in your home in no time." 

"Thanks, for everything." Asami said quietly, before slowly closing the door on Korra.

"Sleep tight."

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a little while since I last posted an update. Truth be told I really struggled writing this chapter. 
> 
> 1\. Because I just wanted to get Asami introduced to Korra's world as quickly as possible, to get it out of the way so I can build towards action, assignments and romance. 
> 
> 2\. I've been busy - it's funny, I get pretty disappointed when I check the archive and don't see updates of the stories I'm reading, but I understand their pain now! So I reserve my judgement. 
> 
> 3\. I can't help but feel like I could've taken this story down another road. The more obvious one where Asami is the agent and entices and wows Korra, who in turn, slowly brings down her walls with her loveable and goofy charm. Asami's gorgeous, she's got hair that we all envy and she's got skills. But Korra, if I had've taken that route, would be in a dead-end type job (like Chuck, who's the protagonist in the show I've based this fiction on) and that just didn't seem right to me. In the real LoK universe, BOTH Asami and Korra have abilities and powers we envy, whereas in this if I had've taken the alternative route, would've in a way lowered Korra and her abilities. Does that make sense? It's sorta the reason why I chose Korra to be the agent and Asami to be the asset. Because asami doesn't need to be involved with the government to be a badass - she can do that on her own (with the company, brains, beauty etc). Whereas Korra, I felt (and am putting this very badly) wouldn't have as much to offer if the roles were reversed. Idk this is a shit explanation, i'm tired, and as i post chapter after chapter I'm really doubting my decision, but I obviously chose to go this direction in the first place so I'm gonna keep to it. I also just love the idea where Asami is very clearly pining for Korra who in turn, clearly wants it and wants her, but obstacles come up in the way and she has to wade through them. I love a conflicted Korra and I love a very obvious, pining, heart on her sleeve as opposed to a cold shoulder, Asami.
> 
> So yes. I just had to get that off my chest.  
> As per usual, kudos, comment, bookmark, subscribe or do whatever you feel you need to do after reading this chapter. Feel free to leave your opinion about the possible role reversal if you wish - i will read it, but I won't change it. I like switching it up and keeping Asami away from the typical badass, secretive, stunning agent and instead making Korra out to be that. I like making Asami badass all on her own, and wowing the best of them even though she's just technically a "regular" citizen.
> 
> Okay. Thanks for reading this. Update will be coming through... eventually (within a week or two)


	5. A New Kind of Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami comes to grips with her newfound situation and prepares for her the adjustment, while Korra learns the art of self restraint.

For Asami, the past few days had been a blur.

She stayed in the CIA's bunker facility otherwise known as 'Castle' for two nights. After a thorough sweep through and installed security measures she was given the all-clear to return home, eat a tub of ice cream and sprawl to blissful albeit paranoid sleep in her own king sized bed surrounded by dozens of pillows and blankets. However as grateful as she was to be back in the comfort of her own home, she'd actually been a tad reluctant to leave the safety of Castle and by extension, Agent Korra. She'd woken each morning unsure of what to find or expect, but felt comfort quickly spread through her uncertainty finding Korra already dug into files and cases, fresh coffee already brewed for her and Asami (and Mako), and a breakfast platter containing an assortment of fruits, pastries and various breads laid out for her, seeing as it was deemed unsafe for her to leave Castle and get breakfast herself. What surprised her even more than the delicious breakfasts and beverages laid out for her each morning, was how quickly she had accepted and adjusted to the concept of Korra's true identity. She told herself to be mad, to despise Korra for manipulating her (even though she knew it was for her own good), to even will herself to throw one last dig at the girl, but she just couldn't. In fact the more time she spent with Korra, the more she grew to know her and like the real side of her. Granted Korra being an Agent for the CIA meant she couldn't tell Asami much about herself, but that didn't stop her from trying. For example, she picked up on Korra's minor habits, the features and facial expressions she would often carry, note her reactions to certain things. For instance whenever Korra was trying to concentrate, or was confused, her brow would furrow and she'd bite down on her pencil ignoring the hum of the computers, the quiet crunches of Asami's chews, Mako's slurping - everything else became ambience for her as she focused entirely on even the smallest detail she could've possibly overlooked or situations she was trying to interpret. When they'd eat together, Asami noticed despite her still reserved behaviour, that her demeanour was far more calmer, far more relaxed when Mako or her superiors weren't around. She was at ease. Something about this side of Korra, made Asami feel like she could slowly, over a period of time, begin to break down her walls and get to know her better. Asami knew it wasn't fair to ask such things from her, she knew she was being selfish - she'd only met Korra a few days ago after all. But she simply couldn't help it, she wanted to know more about her. It was just who Asami was. Someone who's curiosity always got the better of them. She had to see something through to the very end, until there were no more solutions, nothing more to find out about a particular object, situation or person in this case. It was one of the reasons why people didn't stick around for long in her life. Yes, she'd dated -- and dated plenty of times. She'd been wooed, whisked, almost swept off her feet and had tonnes of fun but eventually the flame of a long-term romance would sizzle out and die down, leaving her having to dump the poor guy because he couldn't satisfy her anymore. There'd be nothing left to know about them, no more surprises, nothing knew to learn. She'd exhausted them. She knew it was a tad cynical, but she was simply someone driven by knowledge. It was one of the many reasons that made her prodigal and a successful business magnate. She craved knowledge and constantly sought something out until there was nothing new left for her to know. Right now, Korra was her new interest. Not just romantically, she wasn't just someone looking to jump the gun after all, but on a personal level. Asami was genuinely interested and wanted to use her isolated days in Castle productively. 

Though timing clearly wasn't on her side, because each time she'd get remotely close to Korra and try to begin the process of breaking down her walls, Mako would suddenly and unexpectedly burst through to doors into Castle and boom! Korra's cool facade immediately set in, the walls were back up, higher than they were before and she'd only talk to Asami in small doses, her attention mostly set on Mako now and any missions or open cases they'd have to discuss, before leaving Asami to join him at the hoard of computer monitors set up beneath the exit's mezzanine, to work. The next time she set herself up to try, she'd been informed that the security measures were installed, Korra's and Mako's covers were in place and she could return home.

She found herself feeling a mixture of sadness and happiness both at the same time.

The CIA had given her the day to rest, recover and rejuvenate and told her to call into the yoghurt store above Castle before work on Monday. And so, here she stood watching Korra from outside the suspiciously quickly and newly built Orange Orange Yogurt store, trying to (once again) wrap her head around this 'new kind of normal'.

"Well here goes nothing" she muttered under her breath, as she pushed open the cool glass door to Orange, Orange.

* * *

_ This all could've played out far differently if Mako had've manned up for a second and formed words that other day at the store, then perhaps he'd be the one in this situation and not me. _

During Asami's stay in Castle, Korra too had been ordered to stay in the base in the corporate facilities. Throughout that time Korra had Mako go round to her apartment to feed Naga and keep her company until she could return home. Normally being kept in Castle for extended periods of time made Korra feel suffocated. She enjoyed the outdoors. Being outside in the fresh air, letting the Vitamin D soak up her skin, her hair blowing in the wind while Naga played fetch. And so, when she was ordered to stay in Castle until Asami was able to return home, she went into the situation feeling pessimistic. She could withstand being in Castle for that long, she just didn't prefer it. Except this time round, Korra found herself pleasantly surprised with the calm environment Asami provided. When they would talk, even if it was just debriefing and preparing Asami early for future missions, protocol and procedures, she made Korra feel relaxed and eased. In spite of this typically preferred atmosphere, Korra knew this was a dangerous position to be put into. It meant she could be made vulnerable, and as a result, compromise herself with Asami, to Asami. The sad, but harsh truth was that she couldn't tell Asami about herself even if she wanted too. The more her asset knew, the more danger she could be placed in. Standard Asset-Handler rules. Only tell your asset what they need to know. No more. No less. It came to the point where Korra was almost grateful for the distraction Mako provided. Giving her the chance to recover, to realise where she'd gone wrong in being around Asami and mentally kick herself so she'd remember to not let Asami get as close to her next time. Yeah, that's right - she knew what Asami was doing. She knew Asami knew she wouldn't be able to find out about her right off the bat, and that she would try to observe her instead, note her habits and find out what made her tick from afar. Though she couldn't always help it, she threw some fake reactions her way to keep Asami occupied. Like laughing wildly at things Mako said - things that weren't half as funny as she made them out to be - hell they weren't even funny at all. It was Mako for crying out loud.

_ Perhaps Mako would have been able to handle her better than me. Perhaps Mako would have captured her interest instead. Perhaps Mako should be the one doing this, instead of me. _

"Who am I kidding? It's Mako." Korra chuckled. 

The gentle bell ringing signalling someone had entered the yogurt store, shook Korra from her musings. She looked up to find Asami, snazzy as usual, clad in business attire. Her hair graciously swept over her shoulders, eyes piercing green clashed starkly against the baby blue painted walls of the store. She donned a grey petticoat, leaving the bottom half of her dark red shirt visible. Her long legs were accentuated by stockings and a grey pencil skirt and accompanied by heels. Meanwhile Korra's Orange, Orange uniform consisted of white capri pants and a thin sleeved orange cami singlet. Definitely not as snazzy, but it was a cover job. She could've been made to wear far worse and had been assigned to a far different case. She could've also worn her blue jumper as part of the uniform to spritz it up, but it was only 15 degrees in the store - not nearly cold enough to be wearing one. 

Korra checked her watch, it read 7.45am. The store didn't open until 8.

"Am I late?" Asami asked as she slowly strolled toward the counter.

"Nope, you're right on time." Korra began whipping up a concoction of yoghurts and fresh fruits in a to go cup, sliding it toward Asami. 

"This is what the government called me in for? For a," she paused, quickly dipping her finger in the frozen serving before unintentionally licking it off rather seductively. She only realised after when she pulled her finger out of her mouth, just how that might've looked, and given Korra's subtle cough continued, "for a uh, surprisingly delicious peach and mango yoghurt?" 

_ That's not the only thing that looks delicious - Stop it Korra! _

"Uh, no. Well the yoghurt you can have for free so it doesn't look too suspicious but basically we called you in this morning to quickly go over the cover again. Mako is already stationed inside and should be getting shown around by your assistant right now. His cover is going to be in tact so treat him as you would your normal assistant to make sure nothing looks too out of the ordinary. If you come across anything that might be suspicious or look off let him know immediately and we'll sort it. There is no reason for you to feel unsafe, we have surveillance set up around the perimeter and throughout the building," she said this as she turned the Orange, Orange counter screen towards her, logging into the CIA database and bringing up live surveillance footage of the entrances, workshops, conference rooms, hallways, Asami's office and foyer. Asami nodded, signalling she understood and was okay with all of Korra's instructions.

"There is one more agenda we need to discuss and that is our cover." 

"Our cover? Beifong did mention something in the meeting where I agreed to cooperate with the CIA, but she didn't explain further."

"Yeah, it was decided that if you agreed to be a consultant, we would have to further establish a cover as you would become my asset and I, your handler. I'm personally responsible for your safety and wellbeing in and out of missions." Korra said seriously. She would not be one to mess around with this situation. 

"What does that mean for us cover wise?" Asami asked slowly. She looked as if she already knew what Korra wanted to say, she just wanted verbal confirmation.

"It means that because we've already established a cover as potentially dating, when I ran into you at the F.I Tech store and we went out the next night, that the CIA intends for us to resume and pursue this relationship further. If you're okay with that." Korra paused, when she noticed Asami's eyes grow a little wider and her eyebrows raise. She opened her mouth a few times, trying to formulate words but nothing came out so Korra interjected again, "I can understand if it's a problem or you don't feel comfortable. Otherwise if you'd prefer to have a cover relationship with Mako, I can arrange that instea--"

\--"No! No that's fine, that's more than okay." Asami tried to recover so she wouldn't seem overeager, "You're right we've already established a cover. We technically did go out on a date so it makes sense that we'd pursue a relationship-- a fake, relationship." Korra nodded and Asami was relieved Korra didn't press any further. 

The door quickly swung open as the morning rush of business people and school children filled the store. Asami took it as her cue to leave and gratefully took her frozen yoghurt, before Korra reached out for her hand. She turned and just like that, despite the cool air of the store, Asami suddenly felt hot. 

"We'll grab a coffee later on today at the little cart down the road?" Korra said smiling, before leaning in close, the store patrons watching the interaction not so subtly, her breath hot on Asami's ear, "we can go over more details about the cover as well as your first mission and I can also answer anymore questions you might have." To the outside world, it looked as though Korra had just asked Asami out on another date (sorta) and was whispering sweet nothings into her ear. Of course the reality of the situation was far from romantic but Asami found herself wishing more than anything, for the former to be true. 

Korra pulled away grinning, her eyes only for Asami as the onlookers in the store quickly went back to studying the yoghurt menu far too closely. Korra watched as Asami gracefully stepped out into the cool morning air and strolled across the road into work, yoghurt in hand. 

Satisfied with the further establishment of her relationship cover, Korra knew that as easy as it was to slip into this fake life with Asami, that it was going to be one of the most difficult missions of her career so far. 

 

* * *

 

The morning rush of patrons had long been and gone and it was practically closing time. Korra hadn't noted anything suspicious all day, and judging by the surveillance and slight lack of communication, neither had Mako. She'd studied Asami's schedule to see that all of her appointments had been completed, when she flicked her a text message, asking about that coffee.

**Korra - 2.56pm: Coffee? Meet me outside Future Industries when you're ready.**

**Asami - 2.56pm: I'll let Mako and Zhu Li know I'm heading out. See you soon.**

**Asami - 2.58pm: On my way down now.**

Korra closed up the shop, putting up the "be back in 5 minutes" sign and locked the door. She waited outside Future Industries for Asami and upon greeting her, beckoned down the street to the nearest coffee chain.

"I saw that your appointments were all cleared up for the day, so I figured now would be the best time to go over details of the case. Sorry if I pulled you away from anything important or personal though. Mako being serious and brooding often lacks emotional intelligence and doesn't understand when a person needs some time to themselves to recover or when a person wants to stray away from a schedule for that matter." Korra said, hands in pockets as they casually took their time making their way down the street.

Asami laughed as Korra made light fun of her new colleague, "It's fine really. I could do with a break. Sometimes I get so caught up in work and meetings and clients that I often forget to eat and sleep and work well past the typical business hours. Habits of a CEO I suppose." she said, chuckling at the cold truth of it all. Korra knew this is what it was like for Asami. She was barely two years older than herself and she had an entire company to run, investments to monitor as well as the chain of F.I stores to supervise. Everyone knew she was doing extremely well after taking over from her father; profits soaring through the roofs, new lines of products better than the last, advancements in the fields of engineering - it went without saying that she knew what she was doing. The front face of the company. But nobody got to see the effects it had on her personally. Nobody ever got to look behind the scenes, because the minute she took over from her father, she never had time for it and shut people out even more than she did before, not allowing for people to get close to her. Korra knew all to well what it was like.

"Well I'm glad I could help. You looked like you could do with a break and," Korra took two steps beckoning Asami towards to coffee cart to place her order, "who doesn't like a good pick me up? My treat of course."

Asami stepped up to the counter thanking Korra, "oh no, please that won't be necessary I can pay."

"Are we really doing this again? I asked you out for coffee, I'm paying!" And with that, she shoved her cash on the table as they made their orders.

"Well thank you. You shouldn't have, really, but thank you. I appreciate it Korra."

"It's no problem! If I'm being completely honest, it seemed like it's been a while since anyone outside of your work life has done something for you, and I'm more than happy to - even if it's just coffee. And before you say anything! Business dinners, functions and lunches don't count." Korra added, holding Asami's espresso out to her and making their way back.

"You know me so well considering I've only known you for less than a week. You are right though. It has been a while. I guess I haven't really had the time, but isn't this," she beckoned between them, "technically work? I mean, you're working right now. I'm sorta working right now too, right?"

"Yeah, but if work doesn't feel like work, it doesn't necessarily count as work, does it?" Korra countered, a grin tugged nicely on her lips. Asami nearly stopped in her tracks admiring Korra's easiness and playfulness despite her prominence and importance in an undercover position for the government. 

"I suppose this doesn't feel like work." Asami said as they stopped outside of Future Industries. Korra came inside as Asami gathered up her things and followed her out of the building across to the Orange, Orange where they continued their debriefing. Much to Mako's dismay, he had to stay a little late working with Zhu Li on Asami's work schedule for the upcoming weeks. The entire day he had jumped between running about the craziness of the job of being one of Asami's personal assistants and daydreaming about cleaning the well stocked, well supplied weaponry in Castle's armoury. 

Asami didn't end up leaving Castle with Korra until 7pm. They discussed doing a few in depth defensive training sessions so Asami would possess some skill should she run into any sticky situations ahead of their future missions. They of course planned to develop this, but the basics were the necessities for now. Korra debriefed Asami on her first mission with Mako and Korra as a team; it was a relatively "basic" one. Asami would stay inside the black out van, working monitoring and surveillance, whilst Mako and Korra ran infiltration. The mission, was to break into a foreign arms dealers hotel room at the Grand Ambassador hotel, locate and steal back sensitive intel they'd stolen off a U.S consultant for the government while he were visiting Russia, before he sells it on the black market for millions of dollars. The last thing Korra discussed with Asami was outlining their cover and relationship as Asset and Handler. 

"So what exactly does that entail?" Asami asked propped forward on her elbows.

"Obviously our relationship is strictly a cover, a fake. Strictly professional. There are lines that cannot be crossed because it jeopardises not only your safety, but mine too. My job as your handler is to ensure your safety and wellbeing not just in missions, but outside it as well. Anything goes wrong - I am held personally responsible - because you are my sole responsibility. That being said, you can of course go to either myself or Mako for issues, questions or anything else. We are a team after all. And like a well oiled machine, we need to all cooperate and work together, in order for this team to become a success."

Asami had guessed most of this. She'd overheard Mako talking to Korra about the nature of the handler-asset relationship. But the words that wrung in her head, over everything else, was "cover", "fake" and "strictly professional". Asami moved her mouth to speak, but Korra accidentally cut in before she could.

"I forgot to mention that, with us being in a fake relationship, you won't actually be allowed to pursue a real one outside of this. It might not sound so bad, but take into account the fact that we don't know how long this assignment could go on for. It could be weeks, it could be months, maybe even years. We don't know much about the people after you, so until we can find out more and bring them down, I'm afraid you can't see anyone else."

"What about you?"

To this Korra laughed a little, "what personal life? I'm not as bad as Mako, but I'm practically married to my job."

"That's not what I meant." The look on Korra's face, showed that she half understood but needed Asami to voice it, "When this is over. Will you be able to see someone? Even if that someone was me?"

Korra took her eyes off Asami, and hung her head slightly "Asami, you know I can't talk about this with you. I'm not just your handler, I'm also an agent. I'm one now and I'll continue to be one long after this assignment is over. And you'll go back to being a civilian. I'm sorry but I can't."

"I understand." Asami mumbled, barely audible, but Korra's nod indicated otherwise. She knew what the answer was going to be, but something deep inside her pushed her to try anyway. It couldn't hurt - except it did. The finality in knowing nothing could happen with Korra, but she'd have to pretend like they were involved, put a pain in Asami's chest. One she fought to keep from showing on her face. Korra however caught it even in her smallest expressions, and spoke up.

"Asami look--"

"I'm here! I didn't miss the briefing did I?!" Mako announced as he burst through the sealed door into Castle. 

He did miss it. By several hours. But he looked visibly worn and eager to be around the steady hum of the air conditioning unit, cool interior walls, hoards of guns, computers and files and that distinctly undercover environment that Castle provided.

"Asami's up to speed. She can head home for the night, there's nothing left to cover. We will however be running a couple of training sessions for her prior to the mission just so she has basic self defence under her belt." 

Asami gathered up her belongings once again, and thanked Korra for the debriefing before bidding her team goodnight and heading home. Mako quickly disappeared to the guns and ammunition lockers to ease his mind and jump back into his spy-frame-of-mind while Korra took a moment to truly reflect on Asami's words. She knew she had chosen them carefully, and put it out there, almost as if she was putting her heart on the line in the small hopes of _something more._

_Wow. And to think I've known this girl for less than a week._

Perhaps in a different time, a different place, if she was a different person, she would've leapt, heart on her sleeve, toward the possibility of having something more with Asami. Perhaps in a different time, she would be given that. For the rest of her life even. But this wasn't a different time. This wasn't a different place. This was her. This was now. And reality, is a cold hearted sucker, and has a way of putting us in some of the most difficult, excruciating situations possible, just to have a kick and laugh at us. Which was the current case for Korra. And it all came down to one, little rule: Spies don't fall in love. For now, all she focused on was moving forward. As much as she didn't want to. She had to put it at the back of her mind, and focus on the next most important thing she could do for Asami; protect her. If she couldn't be with her, she could at least be there for her. 

Inhale.

_Spies don't fall in love._   


Exhale.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I recently posted up a new fiction, (A Third Fiction) so please do me a solid and check it out if you haven't already! But enough of that! This is A Second Fictions air time!
> 
> So! it was a bit of a filler, but a necessary one. Please let me know what you think; give it a kudos if you liked it, comment if you wanna voice your opinion or say hi, subscribe if you're enjoying this or if you hated it completely - please ignore me! Thank you all for taking time out of your day to read my fiction.


	6. Fighting More Than Practice Dummies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra runs Asami through a couple of self defense courses in preparation for her first mission. However Korra and Asami find themselves fighting off more than a couple of practice dummies...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry on behalf of my slack ass for not updating this fiction sooner.

**The next morning...**

_Korra doesn't like you._

"Tense." Smooth caramel coloured hands moved across her flat stomach, then gripped, guiding her body through languid motions.

_Korra doesn't like you._

"Breathe." Warm air descended upon her neck, making every nerve in her being shiver and tingle at the sensation.

_Korra doesn't like you._

"Prepare." Her legs were spread willingly as hands moved down them, muscle protruding at the bend.

_Korra doesn't like you_.

"Release." The body that had once been so close to her, mere inches from forming one with her own, quickly disappeared and Asami rushed forward, sending the dummy scattering backwards along the matted floors of the training room.

_Korra doesn't like you._

Asami exhaled heavily. Beads of sweat dripped freely from her body, leaving her tank top clad in certain places showing off her thin, but toned figure. Asami heaved and panted, trying desperately to lower her heart rate - which she was embarrassed to admit, was not just from the intensity of the exercise, but from the exhilarating yet equally nerve wracking feeling of having Agent Korra in such close proximity to her, especially after last nights events.

"Nice work! You're a really quick learner." Korra grinned, patting Asami awkwardly on the back.

"My father put me in self defence classes when I was younger. Though it's been years since I've had anything to do with it." She wiped the newly formed liquid off her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Smart guy. Everyone should make the effort to learn it at some point in their lives," Korra moved about the room recollecting the life-sized dummy and placing it squarely in the centre, "okay, you ready to go again?"

Asami squeezed the last of the water from her drink bottle, "Sure. Do you mind if I take this off though? It's really hot in this room." She asked, beckoning to her top. She didn't even wait for permission until it was slowly yanked off her body, leaving her now clad in just a maroon sports bra and skin tight capri's. Asami could've sworn she saw Korra visibly gulp, but she dismissed the matter, too hot, bothered and frustrated to care. There was no way she could have made Korra flustered, it didn't seem likely in her mind seeing as Korra hadn't displayed any real feelings of affection toward Asami. But if it had, some small part of her wouldn't have minded making her jealous or nervous. The mere thought of Korra squirming, breathing heavily, was enough to fluster Asami alone, but if she herself was the cause of Korra's nervousness (for good reason), well, that would be a whole other story. Using her shirt as a temporary towel to clear the sweat off of her torso, she tossed it on the ground and returned to Korra.

"Uhh... Okay. Another round it is." Asami positioned herself in the first stance, waiting expectantly for Korra to slowly coax her through the movements as she had done previously, and adjust her body to fit the correct positions. Only this time, Korra didn't. She kept her distance. Her hands tucked squarely into her body. Opting to coach Asami from afar for the remainder of the session.

_Well that's odd. I don't know why she's being so evasive all of a sudden... Unless I smell? *_ Takes a very subtle sniff _* Nope, I smell fine, so it's definitely not that._

Truthfully Asami was fighting more than a few practice dummies that morning. She was fighting to keep her heart rate down, fighting in preparation for the potentially dangerous circumstances she might end up in, fighting a minor setback from work due to a flaw in the design of her upcoming line of enhanced Satomobiles, and most of all; fighting her forbidden attraction to Korra. Asami's confession about liking Korra had leapt out of her mouth last night before her mind had time to process it. But by that point, what could she do? True, she phrased it carefully, cautiously as if _something more_ with Korra was a fragile thing that could be shattered at any moment, even though it kinda did, but still. She couldn't take back what she said when they'd both heard it loud and clear. She couldn't pretend and not be true to herself. No, that wasn't who Asami was. Asami was confident, self-assured, not afraid to stand her ground, a little cocky at times but rightfully so because she knew she was attractive, successful, intelligent though never letting it get to her head. However when Korra had voiced the very words she wouldn't have even feared a week ago, she was baffled to say the least, at just how much it had affected her.

_"I'm sorry, but I can't"_

All those qualities that helped make Asami who she was, practically vanished, as if they'd never existed in the first place. She felt like a love-struck teenager all over again, experiencing her first heartbreak and vowing to never again, let herself fall only to feel the pain. Deep down however she knew that there wouldn't have been much hope for her and Korra to begin with. Korra was an agent, her life was a kept secret. There would be so many things she couldn't share. A relationship built on lies and secrets and untold truths. Asami wanted more than that. Thought she at least deserved more than that. She ached for something real. And she'd hoped, beyond hope, that somehow Korra could've provided that for her. But she was quickly proven wrong and the dream was shattered before it ever began.

_Whatever - just focus, Asami_.

 

* * *

  

**The previous evening...**

"Curses!"

Korra groaned in frustration, her arms smacking against the table as she dropped her head in defeat. Asami had long gone leaving Korra to the relative privacy of her own shrewd thoughts. Asami had blind sided her. She'd always guessed Asami was attracted to her; she had noticed it in her mannerisms, her behavior around Korra, the way she spoke, how she carried herself when Korra was around her - she never tried extremely hard to hide it, only to keep her attraction to herself, hence why it'd been so easy to read her like a book - but she never anticipated Asami would drop a bomb like that after only working with slash being around Korra for give or take a week. Korra was mildly surprised that Mako hadn't even tried talking slash warning Korra about the dangers of compromising ones self with an asset. Though she figured given her less than discreet handling of Asami lately, that she would have to expect a talk sooner or later. Great, Mako was never one for pep talks. Judging by previous ones, it would be as irritating as walking barefoot on prickled grass.

Korra was startled out of her musings and scrambled back into her seat due to the sound of approaching footsteps from the armory.

"What are you cursing about? I mean that in the literal sense seeing as I literally just heard you yell, 'curses!'" Mako stepped through the main foyer with his arms raised, attempting to impersonate Korra's rant mere moments ago. Though he wasn't entirely focused on Korra or even looking at her. He still carried a rag and silencer in hand, carrying out what looked like a third polish on the weapon.

"Nothing. Another long day I suppose, you know how it is... I'm gonna head home." Korra made her way toward the stairwell, but grimaced when Mako's voice halted her escape.

"Korra..." He said lowly.

"Yeah?" She slowly turned to face him.

"What's going on with you and Asami?" His amber eyes locked with hers now, refusing to relinquish their hold on hers until she fed him a satisfying answer, "this hasn't been the first time I've interrupted something between you two, and before you try to deny it, I'm not an idiot - I know tonight was no different. What happened?" 

Korra paused in careful consideration before answering, "nothing I'm not already handling. Goodnight Mako."

She made for the exit before he could stop her. It wasn't that she was trying to avoid his questions. She would have gladly answered telling him all that had really happened that evening including what Asami had said. But the truth was she didn't have a sufficient enough answer for him. What was going on with her and Asami? Korra had no idea. They had the potential to become a great team yet while they had amazing chemistry, there was too much of it; they'd almost kissed once, flirted with one another more than once, and have spent plenty of moments after tip toeing around each other. Now that the elephant in the room was addressed, what did that mean? What happened now? Where do they go from here? There was no handbook for this. No strict, military guide on 'How To Handle Your Extremely Gorgeous, Sexy, Intelligent Asset Who You Have The Hots For And Who By The Way, Has The Hots For You Too' readily available for Korra to dive into in Castle's non-existent self-help section. There wasn't even a guidance counsellor that could coach her through this without compromising herself first, meaning Korra would lose her spot on the team and be booted back to the academy, though Korra guessed their advice would go along the lines of: "BURY YOUR FEELINGS!" bish, bash, bosh - basically the end of discussion. Yeah, not exactly the biggest help on offer. 

_I think the government didn't factor into account that an asset, while incredibly smart, could also be incredibly attractive, and attracted to you and vice versa, at the same time._

You see, most government assets, while geniuses, tended to have been plucked from self-isolating man caves in their mothers basement surrounded by video games and advanced custom built technology, only venturing out of their man caves and into the real world for what seemed like the first time ever, upon recruitment. Honestly tonnes of them barely knew how to communicate (normally) with another human being. It was not only sad and stereotypical, but for the most part, true. So when a Miss Asami Sato happened to turn the tables upside down by appearing not as she expected to be, Korra was left feeling positively confused and frustrated, that her teachings hadn't entirely prepared her for this.  

So instead she drove. Or sped, more accurately, through the brightly lit streets of Republic City. She was extremely thankful she'd opted to drive her Audi-inspired Satomobile to work this morning, rather than her Ninja H2 motorbike, because she blasted the radio so loud she could barely hear her own thoughts - that was the point. She didn't want to think. She didn't want to think, or feel, or contemplate, because no matter what subject her mind focused on first, it would always travel back to Asami in the end. And it was a topic Korra knew was off limits. She couldn't allow herself to think about the girl, because if she did feelings could develop, thoughts could become words and words into actions and actions were dangerous, especially actions acted out on feelings. Asami wasn't just any asset, she was her asset. She was her responsibility. Korra had to keep her safe. And well. And protected. And alive. So what if, during one mission, Korra compromised herself because of her feelings for Asami? What if, God forbid, something happened to Asami because of those feelings? What if someone dangerous, used those feelings to torture Korra, by hurting Asami, or worse? What if Korra couldn't get there in time to stop it? It'd be Korra's fault. She couldn't stand it - wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to Asami because of her. Because of her feelings and because she'd acted on them.

There was a reason every spy knew and acknowledged the number one rule. One that she would have obeyed without question a week, two weeks ago, or a year ago even. It was a rule she chose to obey when it came to Kuvira and it's a rule Korra had to abide by when she told Asami that there is no possible outcome in which the two of them end up together. It was for their own good. For _her_ own good.

_So why does it feel like I'm making a mistake?_

She entered her apartment. Topped up Naga's bowl with food, gave her a belly scratch cooing her to blissful sleep afterward and paced her apartment in the silence of the dark. The city, though normally rambunctious, had an air of stillness about it. Korra could hear the wall clock ticking terrifyingly loudly by the kitchen wall. It was close to midnight. Her foot tapped on the wooden floors. Hands wringed in agitation.

She yanked off her top. Ran a cold shower and stood underneath it for close to an hour letting the iciness prickle her skin with goosebumps all over. There was no steam in the bathroom, only condensation, so she swatted it away with her hand and stared at her reflection in the mirror for moments longer, focusing on nothing in particular. Thinking of nothing in particular.

In spite of how welcome her bedsheets normally felt, tonight they may as well have been covered in thorns. Sleep did not come easy. No matter how hard she tried. Tossing and turning only proved worse and counting sheep made for no remedy to coo her into blissful sleep. 

So she rolled off the bed and flopped onto the floor, catching herself on her hands before falling face first and proceeded to do set after set, after set of push ups until her arms threatened to cave beneath her. And then some. And then some more. This continued for a while. 

She hadn't realised just how long she'd laid there, her back against the floor after, gazing up at the ceiling, until the sound of birds perched outside her window stirred her. It was almost 5am. Sleep was clearly no longer on the table. 

Tugging her running shoes on instead, she attached Naga's leash and took her out for a much-needed stroll, or in this case run... Or perhaps sprint. Other than the fact the Naga could've used the exercise and fresh air, Korra had it in her mind that if she ran, perhaps it'd be possible for her to run away from her feelings. Run her thoughts of Asami completely dry. Exhaust them so that they no longer bothered her. So that they no longer existed and she could put figurative 'distance' between them. 

Korra ran. Faster. Harder. Her legs soon joined her arms in excruciating pain from the endless exercise, but Korra didn't mind. She could handle it. She came to a stop at a clearing at the foot of a cliff on the outskirts of Republic City overlooking the ocean. Panting hard, she dropped to her knees and let Naga run loose to momentarily explore the scenery.

_"When all this is over..."_

Her hands came up to her head, bunching in her tousled hair in irritation. "Stop it." Her erratic breathing increased and she fought to keep the words out.

_"Will you be able to see someone?..."_  

Her eyes clenched shut. Asami's words clouding her every thought, "Cut it out Korra!"

_"Even if that someone was me?...'"_

Korra screamed at the top of her lungs in hopeless frustration, sinking in a puddled heap on the cool, dew covered grass as the sun etched all the colors of the rainbow into the morning sky. Naga, after hearing her owner yell out, reappeared out of the nearby bushes to nestle up next to Korra, whimpering softly.

 

* * *

 

**Later...**

"Korra?"

"Korra."

"Korra!"

Korra was quite literally shaken from her thoughts by Asami. She gazed up into those emerald green eyes and was met with a look of genuine concern.

"Yeah?"

"I've been calling your name like five times already, you okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah, sorry, uh... Let's go again." Korra moved to get the discarded dummy once more. Asami stood in preparation, waiting to make her first strike, until Mako (that boy really does have impeccable timing) strolled determinedly into the practice room.

"Wait! We're gonna switch it up," he announced tugging the practice dummy away from Korra, "in real-life situations you won't be facing practice dummies. They could be men, or women or God forbid, children and they could be armed and they could be dangerous. We need to prep you for everything really, so Korra?" His attention turned onto Korra who was almost drifting back into her conscious thoughts, "jump in and spar with her."

"I'm sorry what?" 

"Spar with her. You're her mentor, you should be the one preparing her for everything. Don't get me wrong, Asami's doing really great with the practice dummies, but she needs to be tested harder. Don't worry - I won't hold it against you if you lose to her" he said smirkingly. Mako grabbed the spare role of tape, wrapping it around Korra's knuckles, prepping her to go toe to toe with Asami, who was standing there looking slightly dumbfounded at Mako's announcement. Korra was too engrossed with her own thoughts to fully notice, until Mako had strapped the gloves on her hands and was pushing Korra toward Asami. 

"Okay, well I guess we're doing this then. You ready?" She patted her gloved hands together, beckoning toward Asami who tapped hers back in return.

"Y-Yeah. Let's do this."

Asami, though newly re-introduced to the fighting scene, was extremely light on her feet and danced just that little bit faster around Korra, who in turn, didn't entirely have her head in the game or her eyes on the prize - her eyes were on some sort of prize in the form of Asami's breasts bouncing in front of her--

_Stop it Korra!_  

She shook her head free of guilty thoughts. But at the same time she berated herself for letting her mind stumble in the gutter. Unfortunately for her, Asami had chosen that exact moment to test Korra's reflexes by throwing a punch at her head expecting her to duck, but connected with the side of her temple in full force instead. Korra stumbled backwards clutching the side of her head. She could faintly hear Mako giggling from the doorway.

_Damn it. There's something that'll never let up with him now._

Asami moved to apologise but Korra cut her off before she could continue, suggesting they just carry on with the match. She shrugged it off and raised her arms in defence again. They threw a couple of punches here and there. Korra landed punches along Asami's midriff, while Asami snuck in a few kicks into Korra's rib cage. It wasn't until Mako, fed up with the two dancing around the other without making much physical contact to win, yelled at them (mixed in with several curse words) that they truly fought. 

Korra zeroed in, preparing to land a series of head-body-head shots to disorient Asami and slow her down so she could pin her. Until Asami however managed to slip free from her grasp and instead skillfully wrapped her legs around Korra's waist, hooking her knees together so she couldn't move and collapsed to the floor. Korra wiggled to get free but stopped when Asami (still clad in just a sports bra and skin tight capris, might I add) deliberately fell over top of her, using her weight to keep her completely pinned down.  Asami wasn't heavy. If Korra wanted to, she could've managed to find a way to flip Asami off of her and pin her instead. Even Asami knew this. However after feeling Asami's weight settle rather comfortably on top of her, and those same ethereal emerald eyes fixated on hers, all moves and tactics to win suddenly left her head. Suddenly she didn't mind staying pinned. Suddenly all she could think about was how Asami felt atop of her. How her legs perfectly straddled her body. How her hands, placed on either side of Korra's head, allowed them to be close again, how her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, slightly tickling Korra's face. They were so close. So close that they could breathe each others air, and taste their scent.

Asami's breathing, despite their current resting position, began to pick up, sending goosebumps along Korra's skin. She eyed each little prickly bump in Korra's caramel coloured skin with extreme detail, tracing them to her lips. Korra hadn't payed much attention to where Asami's gaze settled, until it landed upon her lips. Once Asami's eyes had locked on her lips, Korra's had followed suit, taking in that luscious red that coloured Asami's lips. What Korra would give to close the agonizingly short space between them and claim the lips that had been haunting her every waking thought and dissatisfying dream since they'd met. Her breath hitched and Korra's eyes caught Asami's once more. Asami's head nudged every so slightly towards Korra's who was on the verge of giving into her desires.

"Well done!" Mako bursted out loud, clapping in support of Asami. They scrambled to their feet trying to ignore what just happened. "Korra, I know I said I would take it easy on you if you lost to Asami, but shit... I didn't actually think you'd lose!"

"Shove off Mako, I'm just going easy on her that's all. She's still relatively new to this."

"Oh, okay, so you won't mind going all out with me then?" His hands were already strapped. Korra guessed this was his plan all along; prove to her that he knew something was up between them, but rather than berate her for it, help her through it by providing some sort of physical relief: offer to become her punching bag. "No holding back. And no excuses if you lose."

"Fine. No holding back." They tapped gloves and wasted no time getting started. Asami had already fetched her top, and was now standing in the doorway hugging her body, her intense gaze set on the floor in front of her.

Korra was on fire. Now that she knew how close she had become to compromising herself by displaying her feelings for Asami, she knew more than ever, that they had to be kept a secret from her. This frustrated the hell out of her. Which she (unfortunately for him) gladly took out on Mako. He gave her an opportunity to prove herself wrong by showing self restraint and she'd failed. Now it was option two - numb the pain. 

She didn't hold back. Reaching in and tossing Mako endlessly around the room. Landing forceful punch, after punch, after punch. Locking him in complex body locks that he only managed to escape by finally yielding after giving in to unbearable pain.

"Okay, you were going easy. I believe you," he coughed violently, clutching his throat cautiously after Korra's pin involved locking him in a sleeper hold, "Jeez, could've taken it easy on the throat though." As quickly as he had entered, he stumbled out of the room without another word.

Korra made a mental note to apologise to him later.

She began unwrapping the bindings on her hands, forgetting that she was still in the room with Asami. She visibly jumped when the latter spoke up, "Korra? Are you sure you're okay?"

Korra chose to fixate on the task at hand, which unfortunately for her was almost done. She'd been so frustrated with herself that she ripped the bandages off fast enough to leave her hands in a red and irritated state. "Yeah I'm fine... No I'm- I'm just tired, I didn't get much sleep last night - well none, really."

"Me neither... Can I ask why?" 

"I couldn't stop thinking about you and what you said last night."

"About me liking you?"

_There it was. The very things Korra wanted Asami to feel for her ever since she first laid eyes on her. When her picture popped up on the monitor in the briefing room, and she'd been completely captivated by those piercing green eyes. Korra remembered thinking Asami's eyes carried the kind of colour you'd be lucky to come across three maybe four times in your life, tops. _As for the owner of these eyes, well, once if you were ever lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. And Korra was that lucky son of a bitch._ Hearing them out loud for the first time, both excited and scared her senseless. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, threatening to give away her true feelings. _

"Yeah." she breathed.

The room fell into uncomfortable silence with each girl unsure what to say to the other next, in the terrifying yet exhilarating prospect of crossing into unknown territory. Should I go for it, must've been the thought racing through each of their minds. Korra was sure she'd applaud and berate herself for this later, but she spoke up before any true thoughts were shared, "look I know it's awkward between us right now and I promise we'll talk about this later but for now, I have to go apologise to Mako for almost strangling him to death today. I'll see you later Asami." 

She hurried out of the room, never once looking back. Korra could almost feel Asami's stare burning holes into her retreating figure. It made her feel like she had miles to go until she reached the exit to the gym room, despite it only being a 20 steps to the door. She was extremely tempted to turn around, to catch her ten millionth glimpse of the girl just from today, but after realizing exactly how much sway Asami had on her already, she was not going to give into her temptations, no matter how badly they called out to her. 

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

 

* * *

 

After calling out to him in the main foyer of Castle, Korra proceeded to find him. She eventually did; the sound of hissing lead her to find him in the kitchen. He was propped up on open bench. An ice pack wrapped tightly around his ribs. She slowly entered the kitchen, leaning against the doorway.

_You have to tell him. Especially after today._

They were a team after all - you never keep information from your team.

"You were right." She said with her head hanging low.

"There it is! The very words Agent Korra has never, ever, ever admitted in the history of my knowing and working with her," He smirked and she rolled her eyes in retort, "may I ask what it is I'm right about?"

"Something is going on between Asami and I... We're a team, Mako. I refuse to have secrets within our team." Korra moved to sit on an open seat across from him.

"What is the something?"

"Last night in Castle we were talking about the covers, the nature of the asset-handler relationship and the entire operation in general," He nodded for her to continue, "then she asked me about personal relationships - if there was ever a chance in which she may be able to pursue one with me... When all this is over."

He paused momentarily before speaking up, "What did you say?"

"I told her no, but I didn't get much of a chance to say anything else. You stumbled into castle right after that." She paused, wondering if it was her place to ask, but given how off protocol this entire situation was, figured she may as well. "She and I, we can never have a future together though... Can we?"

She closed her eyes in anticipation, expecting Mako to flip out, raise his voice or berate her for ever letting herself into this position in the first place. What she didn't expect was his soft and appreciative tone. It was gentle, considerate and so  _unlike_ the typical brooding Mako.

"Do you want there to be one?"

"I don't know. I've only just met her, I mean, I hardly know her. There's still an entire mission at stake here. Not to mention I'm her handler. A relationship should be the last thing on my mind - but... It's Asami. I may have just met her, but I can already tell she's different. She's intoxicating and infectious and stunningly beautiful and whenever I'm around it's like... The things I've done, this person I've turned into, doesn't exist - I feel like I can be someone... Which is why I can't be with her."

She didn't have to elaborate. He already knew; they were damaged goods. Them and everyone else within the agency. There's a reason why they're recruited in the first place; they either came from broken families, had no background, and were easy to erase from history so it's as if they never existed. From the day they were born, they never had the option for a normal life. There would be no reality in which they get it all; the house, the normal job with normal hours and a normal pay and a normal life. Coming home to your partner and kids at the end of the day was simply never meant for people like them. They are there to carry out the tasks nobody else can do, to live the life nobody should have to live, in oder to protect everyone else's dreams. 

"It's too dangerous. For her and for me," she'd reached her conclusion, "spies don't fall in love."

"Love or love of country, is a decision people like us don't get to make Korra. Though I think you already knew the answer. I'm just sorry it has to be this way. I know you really like her, and she you." 

Korra just nodded. 

"Thanks Mako," she smiled in appreciation, standing and making a turn to head out the door when she chuckled in thought, "who'd ever imagine that I'd be coming to you of all people for romance advice?"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." He playfully beckoned her out the door.

 

* * *

 

Asami didn't see Korra for the rest of the day. 

She had planned on approaching Korra the very next day at the Orange, Orange to talk away from the confines of Mako and Castle but as she stepped outside her office building that morning and began to cross the street, she was met with a "CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION" notice sign on the window of the Orange, Orange.

That immediately set Asami off into a panic. 

Had she driven Korra away? Was she being relocated? Moved onto a different assignment, with a different team, and a different asset? Was this all her fault?

All questions that occupied Asami's mind every second of every day. Work was clearly off the table for her. She couldn't focus on a single task long enough without Korra entering her mind. She'd even, in her mix of sleep deprivation and worry, accidentally signed the name 'Korra' on a document where she was meant to write hers.

If it hadn't been noted by Zhu Li, Korra would now be the proud benefactor of a children's hospital in a town on the outskirts of Republic City. Not that Asami cared about who's name was on the donation papers. She had more money than she needed and was more than willing to give it to charity and help others, no matter who's name had been signed on the paper. That wasn't what made her worry. 

What worried her was the minor teasing from Zhu Li that came next.

"Who's Korra Miss? Ooh! Is she your girlfriend? She must be if she's got you doodling her name on documents all around the place!" She giggled uncontrollably. 

"Zhu Li! No it's not like that! And hey, that was one document!"

Flustered and very much aware that Mako could hear everything they were saying with her door left slightly ajar, Asami quickly tried to dismiss the matter in hushed tones and fill in the appropriate name on a fresh document and dismissed a smirking Zhu Li.

_How is Agent Korra getting to me this much? You've dealt with crushes before Asami. This one is no different - You're Asami Sato. You can have anyone else in the entire world!_

_Yeah, but not_ her _._  

Mako neglected to bring up the situation in her office when they finished work and she tried asking him several times for her whereabouts back in Castle, but all he offered her in return was a disgruntled, "that's classified" and took over Korra's job of teaching Asami self defence.

Aside from the basic combat training, Asami learned two things; one, Mako's hands on her body didn't feel anywhere near as good as Korra's did. And two, Korra was definitely not here because of her.  

And this was how it went for the next few days; Asami in tatters. Mako fed up with having to deal with Asami's not-so-subtle pining for Korra. Until one morning, she began the torturous trudge up to her office and preparation for another sluggish day thinking of Korra when she noticed something she hadn't before; an "OPEN" sign clearly plastered on the window of the Orange, Orange. The building positively alit. Asami didn't think it were possibly for her smile to stretch any wider.

_KORRA!_ Flashed in her mind as she sprinted across the road and burst into the frozen yogurt store. 

Her heart was beating out of her chest when her eyes landed on the familiar tan skinned girl standing behind the counter doing an inventory check. Said girl lifted her head up and smiled her signature lopsided grin. She looked genuinely happy to see Asami.

_Well that's promising._

"Oh, hey you" She greeted her, still sporting a grin.

"Hey yourself..." Asami said breathlessly in return. "You're back."

"I am"

"Can I ask where have you been?"

"Oh yeah, my dog, Naga, wound up biting off more than she could chew - literally - and swallowed a strangers phone after mistaking it for a toy when I was taking her for a walk in the park the other day. Crazy right? So I took her to the vets to have it removed and I've stayed home supervising her for the past few days."

"Oh... Mako said it was classified."

She burst out laughing, "He did? That idiot, he knew where I was. Probably just being a tease."

Asami nodded as the relief set in.

_So I didn't drive her away._  

"Anyway, you know what's been happening with me, what about you? Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" She asked setting the clipboard on the counter.

"Umm..." Asami thought back to her past few days with Korra in absentia; Asami worrying about Korra countless times during the day, being occupied in her own thoughts when Mako was trying to teach her, Zhu Li's relentless teasing over her various Korra slip ups (yep, unfortunately that wasn't the only time it had occurred), and her usual inability to eat, sleep or drink multiplied at the thought of having driven Agent Korra away. "No, nothing interesting." A blush beginning to form on her pale cheeks.

"Okay. What about your training? Mako mentioned teaching you while I was away." Korra moved to make Asami up a fresh batch of pineapple passionfruit fro-yo trusting Asami probably wouldn't have had breakfast yet.

"Is that all he mentioned about me?"

"Yeah... Why? Was there something else he should have told me?" Korra looked at her inquisitively.

"No, no. Nothing." She shyly smiled in return. 

"Okay..." If Korra had any suspicions or doubts, she didn't show it. Striding back over to the counter, Korra handed Asami the cup of frozen yogurt, which she gladly took, smiling politely.

_Phew, so as far as I know he hasn't told Korra anything about my behaviour while she's been away either. Thank God._

"Well, now that I'm back we need to talk about your first mission." 

Asami noted Korra's serious demeanour back in tact. 

"Right. The one to do with stealing back sensitive intel right?"

"That's the one."

"Okay. When is it?"

"Tonight." Asami almost choked on her yogurt.

"Tonight?" Korra nodded.

"We'll pick you up from your apartment tonight. Make sure you're ready to go by 7 o'clock."

 

**Author's Note:**

> So there you have it!
> 
> If you can't tell already or my writing is that bad that it needs clarification (I didn't proof any of this sorry) - Korra works for the CIA, Asami is kick-ass and knees deep in Future Industries stuff, the two will collide and combine to save the world! For anyone not aware of the show Chuck, it follows a similar storyline. Korra will become Asami's handler, Asami will become her asset. Meaning the two will have to keep it professional despite all that (sexual) tension.
> 
>  
> 
> Truth be told I've been meaning to write something like this for so long. I've been brainstorming and mapping my stories out for the past month - deep down I'm kicking myself for instead not welcoming the New Year (and Korrasami month/anniversary) with another chapter to my other story, "A Fiction" (I know. Super original with the name here, but it's all part of a series) so I decided to work on a new story and let my creativity flow from two points rather than one. 
> 
> I'll be updating this in a couple days if all goes well and the responses are good - LEMME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! I WANT TO KNOW! Love you all, hope you're enjoying 2016 so far.


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